UK’s Low-Carbon Heating Project

The UK government’s Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project (EoHDP) was launched in 2019 to demonstrate the feasibility of using low-carbon technologies to electrify heat in homes and buildings. The project aimed to help the UK achieve its net-zero emissions target by 2050 by reducing carbon emissions from heating, which currently account for around one-third of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

What is the EoHDP?

The EoHDP was a £25 million project funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), now the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), and managed by energy innovation firm, Energy Systems Catapult. The project involved installing heat pumps in over 700 homes and buildings across the UK, with a focus on rural and off-grid areas.

The project was divided into two phases. The first phase involved the installation of air source heat pumps (ASHPs) in a range of housing types and ages, while the second phase involved the installation of other low-carbon heating technologies, including ground source heat pumps, hybrid systems, and district heating systems.

The EoHDP aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of using low-carbon technologies for heating and to gather data on the performance and cost-effectiveness of these technologies. The data collected from the project will be used to inform the development of government policy on the electrification of heat and to support the scaling up of low-carbon heating technologies across the country.

The Results

The EoHDP has been successful in demonstrating the feasibility of using low-carbon technologies to electrify heat in homes and buildings. The project has shown that ASHPs and other low-carbon heating technologies can provide reliable and cost-effective heating, even in rural and off-grid areas.

The project has also provided valuable data on the performance and cost-effectiveness of different low-carbon heating technologies, which will be used to inform the development of government policy on the electrification of heat. The data collected from the project will also support the scaling up of low-carbon heating technologies across the country, helping the UK to achieve its net-zero emissions target.

The provisional results have been released, with a further revision expected in Autumn 2023, showing us that heat pumps are:

– Up to 3x more efficient than gas boilers
– Operating efficiently in cold temperatures
– Increasing their average performances since the last trial

The UK government’s Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project has been successful in demonstrating the feasibility of using low-carbon technologies to electrify heat in homes and buildings. The project has provided valuable data on the performance and cost-effectiveness of different low-carbon heating technologies, which will inform the development of government policy on the electrification of heat and support the scaling up of low-carbon heating technologies across the country.