In Italy, the market for heat pumps was booming. Since 2020, the installation has been promoted by massive tax credits. But now, according to a report, the market is "practically dead".
Rome – More heat pumps were sold in Italy last year than anywhere else in Europe: more than 500,000 units. This is 37 percent more than in the previous year. By 2022, Italians could even have a heat pump installed for free. The reason: As an incentive for the heat pump investment, a tax credit was issued. Homeowners were able to reduce their paying taxes by the amount of the investment within five years. The problem was that many Italians did not have the financial means to pay for the heat pump and installation.
That's why Giuseppe Conte's center-left government created the "2020 percent super bonus" in 110. Homeowners contacted the installer. He brought the new heat pump and installed it. As payment, the homeowners then passed on their tax credit of 110 percent of the price of the installation service to the fitter. He could then use them for his tax or sell them to a bank.
Air conditioning in Italy: For a long time, homeowners could have it installed in exchange for a tax credit. © H.Tschanz-Hofmann/Imago
Heat pump subsidy costs Italy 75 billion euros
An example: The homeowner buys a heat pump for 25,000 euros including installation. He pays with his 110 percent tax credit. The installer can therefore reduce his own tax liability by 27,500 euros. Or he sells this tax bonus to his bank.
The Italian state was willing to pay a lot for the 500,000 newly sold heat pumps in 2022: The Superbonus program cost around 75 billion euros for the heat pumps alone. However, the bonus also applied to other energy-saving investments, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported: The total costs for the state budget therefore amounted to a total of 110 billion euros. Therefore, it is also questionable how much was done against climate change in the end, the FAZ sums up.
Industry experts: Heat pump market "practically dead"
Sales of more energy-efficient gas heating systems also rose sharply. Gas is still the most popular means of heating for Italians. The most popular heat pumps in Italy are air conditioners that heat by air-to-air exchange.
Italy's national-conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni adapted the regulations around the super bonus. The resale of the tax credit was prohibited, the subsidy rate was reduced to 90 percent, reports the FAZ. "The market is now practically dead," an industry insider told the newspaper: industry insiders expect demand for heat pumps in Italy to "shrink sharply" this year.
