A major new grant scheme in England and Wales to replace gas-fired boilers has gotten off to a slow start, according to government figures released Thursday.
Under the Boiler Modernization Program, households can apply for vouchers to help them upgrade to a heat pump.
The government set a goal of issuing 30,000 vouchers per year, but from the start of the scheme in May until the end of the year, only 9,888 vouchers have been issued.
Switching to heat pumps will help reduce heat emissions and therefore help the UK reach its climate goals.
Since May last year, households in England and Wales have been able to access a £5,000 grant to replace their boilers with greener heating systems.
The government has allocated £450 million to the scheme and says it will fund 90,000 pumps over three years.
At current rates, only 42,000 vouchers will be issued by the time the scheme expires in March 2025, according to new data released Thursday.
A spokesman for the UK Climate Change Council (the government’s climate advisory group) told the BBC that while the number of upgrades was broadly in line with their modelling, “the government could increase the reach of boiler retrofit programs, in particular by raising public awareness and providing additional funding.
A government spokesman told the BBC that a targeted marketing campaign had recently been launched to raise public awareness of the scheme.
Jess Ralston, director of energy at think tank Energy and Climate Intelligence, told the BBC she was not surprised by the scheme’s slow launch: “As far as government schemes, they all had teething problems in the first year.”
Industry experts say delays in launching the scheme have prevented installers from offering their services.
The scheme was created by the government to reduce the climate impact of home heating in the UK, which accounts for 14% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Heat pumps run on electricity instead of gas and are three times more efficient, which also gives families the opportunity to save money.
The scheme has already been criticized for funding only 90,000 vouchers when the government plans to install 600,000 by 2028.
Ms Ralston said the plan would certainly help the industry prepare, but “there are still huge differences and in other countries we are seeing long-term policy plans. Three years is not that long and people need confidence to invest.”
The UK is currently one of the first places in Europe to install heat pumps. Nearly 400,000 heat pumps were installed in France in 2020, compared to 37,000 in the UK, according to energy analysts.
The application and issuance of vouchers also vary considerably in England and Wales.
The first four of the five regions where heat pumps are installed under the scheme are in the south of England.
Ms Ralston said the use of vouchers depends on the households applying for the program, but the cost-of-living crisis could put some off as vouchers only cover 75% to 50% of costs.
© 2023 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites. Learn about our approach to external links.