The government have announced a new ‘Heat Training Grant’ this morning (2 March 2023). Aimed at heating engineers, the grant will support 10,000 trainees over the next two years to become low-carbon heating experts
Through the new Heat Training Grant, heating engineers will be eligible for grants of up to £500, which will go towards training costs, creating new green jobs, and helping to future-proof the heating industry.
The grants acquired through the new heat pump scheme will cover most of the costs of a level 3 heat pump training course. Manufacturers are expected to offer additional discounts to participants, which will further reduce the costs for installers and make heat pump engineering a more affordable career path.
Why are heat pumps an effective heating source?
Despite the government target of reaching net zero by 2050, 88% of homes in the UK are still heated by natural gas, contributing to almost a quarter (23%) of the country’s total greenhouse gas.
Heat pumps are significantly more efficient than traditional boilers and use cleaner electricity, so that they will reduce your home’s carbon footprint.
They can be affordably installed and operated in well-insulated buildings and be readily met by the lower-temperature heat that heat pumps can provide.
The training grant is part of a £14m government investment scheme
The new Heat Training Grant is part of a £14m government investment scheme to accelerate the installation of heat pumps and heat networks across the country.
As part of the scheme, £9.4m will go towards four heat pump projects across the country, from Bristol to Cambridgeshire, to help cut costs of low-carbon technologies.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme has recently been criticised in a Lord’s inquiry
The heat pump innovation programme runs alongside the government’s £450m Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which aims to provide up to £6,000 in grants to homeowners towards the cost of a heat pump, which will make clean heating measures a much more viable and affordable option for many people.
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme was recently criticised in a Lords inquiry that found that the scheme was failing to deliver following a low uptake of grants.
The report concluded that if the uptake does not improve, it is highly unlikely that the government’s 2028 target of 600,000 installations per year will be met.
Making heat pumps cheaper and easier to install
Commenting on the new Heat Training Grant, Lord Callanan, parliamentary under secretary of state at the department for energy security and net zero, said: “This funding will give the rollout of heat pumps a huge boost by making them cheaper and easier to install, and importantly helping more households move away from costly fossil fuels.
“But we need a skilled workforce to deliver this, so we’re training thousands of people to be experts at installing heat pumps and heat networks, driving the country’s push towards net zero.
“We’re also making sure the cost of installing a heat pump is more affordable than ever before through grants of up to £6,000 through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and a zero rate on VAT. So, it’s right we also put funding in place to train installers to meet demand.”
A necessary change needed around specification, installation and maintenance
Jeff House, external affairs & policy director at Baxi, commented: “This is a great scheme, and we welcome the Government’s focus on skills, and its commitment to the installer community who are keen to participate in the transition to decarbonised heating in buildings.
“The conversation on heat pumps has to move beyond purely product and must recognise the necessary industry change needed around specification, installation and maintenance – all of which will be addressed by the training programmes provided by us and others under the scheme. This is absolutely critical to gaining consumer confidence around new technology,”
‘Helping installers upskill for heat pumps to take over from gas boilers’
Phil Hurley, chair of the HPA, added: “Installers are the most important ambassadors of heat pumps to the consumer, and the HPA warmly welcomes this scheme to support them build on their existing skill base to become the green heating installers of the future. This is exactly the sort of early-bird support we have called for.
“We already have the building blocks in place – our own training course and capacity among our members to train 40,000 installers per year. This government scheme will give the industry a real boost in helping installers upskill for heat pumps to take over from gas boilers as the go-to heating technology for new and replacement systems alike in the majority of homes.”
