The Scottish Government has responded to the announcement of a UK
Government 'Clean Heat Market Mechanism' as potentially
supporting Scotland’s ambitions for clean heating, but said it
should prompt the UK Government to revamp its UK-wide policies
for heat more fully.
The scheme would require fossil fuel boiler manufacturers to
install a certain number of heat pumps proportional to their
fossil fuel boiler sales. It is expected to take effect from
April 2024, and is intended to incentivise industry to invest and
innovate throughout the supply chain.
Zero Carbon Buildings Minister said: “We welcome the aim of
these proposals, which we believe can complement the Scottish
Government’s ambitious policy package – as set out in our
recently published Heat in Buildings Bill consultation - to drive
further demand and help stimulate the market for clean heating
systems.
“However, it will be vital to ensure that the mechanism takes
into account its interaction with other devolved and reserved
policies in order to ensure that it is as effective as possible
and to help liberate households from exposure to volatile fossil
fuel prices.
“The independent Climate Change Committee has called for
governments to work together and for the UK Government to restate
strong leadership on climate change. The challenge now is for the
UK Government to work effectively with the Scottish Government to
develop a comprehensive package of measures to support the heat
transition. That includes fulfilling its commitment to breaking
the artificial link between gas and electricity prices;
regulating energy companies to play their full part in this
transition; and working with us to help realise the full benefit
of UK-wide schemes.”
Only the UK Government has powers to regulate the suppliers of
heating systems so under the scheme, large providers will be
required to make a percentage of their products clean heat - like
heat pumps - rather than fossil-fuel based. The mechanism could
therefore work in tandem with the Scottish Government’s proposals
to require homes to meet minimum energy efficiency standards and
to require clean heating in all buildings by 2045, with rules
taking effect from around 2028.
Background
Zero Carbon Buildings Minister has written to , Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State (Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green
Finance) at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
