Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to (a) ensure the economic viability of hydrogen-ready boilers, (b) ensure the successful roll out and uptake of heat pumps and hybrid heat pumps and (c) help reduce the running costs of electricity powered heating systems and (iv) encourage the transition away from fossil fuel domestic heating systems.

Meeting our carbon goals will require the vast majority of the UK’s homes and non-domestic buildings to be zero carbon by 2050, through a combination of energy efficiency measures and moving to low carbon heating.

(a) We are supporting a range of research, development and testing projects designs to help determine the feasibility of using low carbon hydrogen as an alternative to the use of natural gas for heating. The Government has been supporting the development of hydrogen-ready boilers through the Hy4Heat programme. The programme includes ongoing projects to assess the timelines for the scale up of hydrogen-ready boiler production and their potential future costs. We will be consulting on the potential role of hydrogen-ready boilers in the transition to Net Zero later this year.

(b) The Government is bringing forward a wide-ranging package of policies to support the development of the heat pump market towards our ambition for 600,000 installations per year by 2028 including targeted regulations and financial support. We are working closely with industry to grow the supply chain, manage any impacts on the electricity network and provide support to consumers. Furthermore, the Government is helping to drive wider consumer acceptance and demonstrating the suitability of heat pumps, including hybrid heating systems, across the UK housing stock, through the £14.6 million Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project.

(c) The Government is keen to ensure that households and businesses are aware that all energy users are fairly sharing in the benefits and costs of the UK’s transition to Net Zero. Ensuring costs of the transition are allocated fairly is a priority for this Government, and we will shortly begin a dialogue on this between Government, consumers and industry, by publishing a call for evidence on affordability and fairness.

(d) Transitioning away from fossil fuels will not be simple and will require clear, long-term policy. The Government will shortly unveil a comprehensive policy package to support this ambition, including targeted regulatory, market-based and public investment measures, and will set out further detail on this in our forthcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy.