As of: February 28, 2024, 7:57 a.m
By: Amy Walker
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Sales of heat pumps collapsed not only in Germany in 2023.
Sales fell significantly across Europe - forcing manufacturers to take action.
Berlin – The heat pump boom is over again or at least has taken a hit.
This is shown by the latest data from the European heat pump association EHPA, which was presented on Tuesday (February 27).
According to this, sales of heat pumps in 14 European countries fell by five percent last year.
Between 2021 and 2022, the association recorded an increase of 37.6 percent.
What may not sound like much at first glance has real consequences at second glance: Manufacturers in Europe are forced to cut jobs and send employees on short-time work.
Investments are postponed.
And this despite the fact that the industry should really take off now.
Energy prices and confusing politics: Association settles accounts
According to the association, the 14 countries whose sales figures were presented at the EHPA press conference represent 90 percent of the European heat pump market.
Accordingly, a reliable trend can be seen from these numbers.
According to the association, there are several reasons for the collapse in sales figures.
There was uncertainty in the various countries due to new funding plans, as was particularly evident in Germany in the debate about the heating law.
On the other hand, the changed energy prices were also crucial: after the explosive increase in 2022, the gas price fell steadily last year and now remains at a significantly lower level than the electricity price.
The association clearly criticizes this and calls for measures that will reduce the price of electricity in the long term.
A new EU ban on heat pumps with so-called F-gases also caused setbacks in the industry.
“If Europe is serious about supporting net-zero industries, decarbonization and achieving greater energy independence, it cannot afford to delay.
A proper action plan shows voters that EU politicians support them.
The longer we wait, the more challenging the decarbonization of heating and cooling systems will be,” says association chairman Thomas Nowak.
The right wing is raising the mood against the heat pump
What also moves the heat pump association is the way in which actors on the right-wing political fringe in particular have recognized the heat pump as a new election campaign topic.
This can be seen particularly clearly in Germany, where the AfD describes the heat pump as a “cost trap” and creates sentiment against the technology.
But a culture war over renewable heating has also broken out in other countries, such as Great Britain - so Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has now withdrawn the government's plans to ban gas and oil heating.
And the EU itself has also shelved an important heat pump directive in view of the upcoming European elections in the summer.
It is completely unclear whether this will be implemented in the new legislative period.
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A Vaillant employee assembles a heat pump in the company's main plant.
Sales of heat pumps have fallen across Europe.
© Roberto Pfeil/dpa
The EU Commission has actually stipulated that around 60 million heat pumps should be installed in the EU by 2030 in order to achieve the climate goals in Europe.
This would correspond to an average increase in sales of 17 percent per year.
Daikin, Vaillant and Co. have to save money – jobs are at risk
The falling sales figures and the uncertainty among consumers, fueled by right-wing slogans, are already having real consequences for heat pump manufacturers.
According to the EHPA, 3,000 jobs across Europe have already been affected, which have either been cut or put on short-time work because the market is not developing as expected at the end of 2022.
Employees at Daikin, Vaillant, Saunier Duval and Stiebel Eltron were put on short-time work, while the Swedish manufacturer Nibe is planning to cut 500 jobs.
The French company Groupe Atlantic has cut work at one of its production facilities to just two days a week.
The Irish company GlenDimplex, which produces heat pumps in France and Germany, has also said it has postponed investments in new capacities.
The company expects 2024 to be similar to 2023. Given this, it is extremely questionable whether the EU goals can still be achieved.