Energy Prices
Electricity: 18 Euro cent/kWh
(9 Euro cent/kWh night saver)
Heating oil: 5,85 Euro cent/kWh
Pellets* (sack delivery): 7,15 Euro cent/kWh
Pellets* (bulk delivery): 4,71 Euro cent/kWh
Heat Pumps in Ireland – Current Market Situation and Trends
Renewable energy heating systems are new technologies which, while proven,
established and increasingly popular across the EU, however, they are still relatively
new to us here in Ireland. The Irish Government, through SEI, are committed to the
low energy building agenda and introduced the Greener Homes Scheme in 2006
to encourage people to “green” their homes by contributing to the initial
investment cost of installing a renewable energy heating system. The government
believes that this will help ensure a faster uptake of renewable heating systems
which will underpin the development of a long term market, while enabling
homeowners to play their part in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Launched in March 2006 the scheme provides financial incentives to support the
installation of heat pumps and since then the market has been buoyant with over
5000 units installed in the residential sector. Note: Prior to the Greener Homes
Scheme the market was small and no accurate statistics on the number of units
installed are available.
Following the introduction of the Greener Homes Scheme the technology reached
a wider recognition and acceptance among Irish home owners and the Irish heat
pump market expanded very rapidly. Backed by grants we witnessed a rapid
increase in heat pump sales as the technology became the preferred choice in the
new housing sector. This sector was identified as a key market going forward, the
number of house completions had increased each year from 2002 to a peak of
88.200 in 2006, and whilst the number of houses completed in 2007 decreased to
78.000 the heat pump market was still expanding. For example since early 2006
the Irish heat pump industry has developed greatly, most notably the number of
companies involved in supplying and installing heat pumps has increased ten fold
since the launch of the Greener Homes Scheme. Most of the major European heat
pump companies are active and represented in Ireland. Today, we have over 5.100
units installed, some 350 products and ranges registered and over 310 registered
installers.
At the same time as witnessing a market decline in the residential heat pump
sector the slow down is not so evident in the biomass and solar sectors where the
initial investment costs are seen as less prohibitive.
Greener Homes Scheme Phase III
The Greener Homes Scheme Phase III provides assistance to homeowners who
intend to purchase a new renewable energy heating system for existing homes.
The scheme is administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) and aims to
increase the use of renewable energy and sustainable energy technologies in Irish
homes.
In July 2008 a change in the Building Regulations 2008, made the inclusion of
renewable energy in new homes compulsory. The existence of this new legislation
basically meant that it would no longer be appropriate to grant aid their
installation in new homes. Consequently the qualifying criteria changed with the
main change being that only existing (at least one year old) houses will be eligible
for support.
It was recognized that the installation of renewable heating systems in existing
homes is typically more complex and expensive and the decision taken was to
57
Focus reports on selected European markets | Ireland
Table 28: Average end
consumer prices including
distribution and taxes in
2008.