Anger as only one Scottish Government building has heat pump installed

The Heat In Buildings Strategy, launched in February 2021, set out the Scottish Government’s ambition to double the number of zero emission heating systems installed north of the Border every year for the following five years. It also calls for the number of installations to reach 200,000 per year towards the end of the decade. 

The large majority of these were to be heat pumps. They include domestic use and connections to heat networks supplied by larger heat pumps. 

The government’s own expert advisory group says the net zero pathway required an “equally fast and widespread deployment of heat pumps”. 

It has now emerged the government has had one solitary heat pump, installed in 2022, in one of its buildings. The site of the building has not been revealed. 

Officials have said plans are “ongoing” this year to determine which buildings are suitable for installing heat pumps. The number has not yet been determined. 

The Scottish Government owns 17 buildings, including its headquarters, St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh, and leases 50 others, including offices, stores and the First Minister’s official residence, Bute House. 

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Former justice secretary and fair energy prices campaigner Kenny MacAskill, the MP for East Lothian who is also deputy leader of the Alba Party, said: “It’s very disappointing. Retrofitting is harder than installation at construction. But steps need taken. It cannot simply be rhetoric. ‘Can do so much better’, springs to  mind because global warming is now situation-critical for us all.” 

One environmental group official said: “I can’t believe it. It just isn’t good enough to be talking the talk, you have to be walking the walk on dealing with climate change and the Scottish Government should be setting an example for others to follow.” 

Last summer, the government launched plans to have new homes banned from running fossil fuel boilers from April 2024. 

MSPs have pledged to cut 1990 levels of emissions by 75 per cent in seven years’ time. As part of that target, the Scottish Government is aiming to decarbonise one million buildings by 2030. It has also pledged for all homes to meet EPC band C in energy performance certificate standards by 2032. 

The strategy is part of a wider target for Scotland to become net zero by 2045, when the country’s contribution to the climate crisis ends. 

Under the proposed 2024 building warrant changes, heating systems would be replaced by alternatives such as heat pumps. 

In launching the plan, Zero Carbon Buildings Minister Patrick Harvie visited Saughton Park and Gardens in Edinburgh, where two ground source heat pumps provide the buildings’ heat.  

Mr Harvie argues the heating of homes is the “third-largest cause of emissions” and that changes must be made because “fossil fuel heating also leaves households and business exposed to significant energy cost increases”. 

In early December a scheme was launched to attempt to make it simpler and more affordable for homeowners in the country to install the climate-friendly heat pumps. Under the government’s initiative, homeowners can apply for a stand-alone grant of £7,500 from the Home Energy. 

Scotland scheme to install heat pumps. Previously, applicants were required to sign up for a loan before they qualified for this funding, but they can now access the money directly. 

The new approach is designed to offer greater flexibility for those looking to make their homes more climate friendly. 

The enhanced measures will also include an extra £1,500 for homeowners in rural areas, in line with a commitment made as part of the Bute House Agreement, the power-sharing arrangement between the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens. 

But nearly a quarter of Scotland’s 170,000 off-grid properties, many of which are outside the Central Belt, are not suitable for the installation of air-source heat pumps and could be faced with the cost of upgrading to greener electric systems. 

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And it emerged last week that the Scottish Government’s climate change advisers have written to  

Mr Harvie calling on him to reform “not fit for purpose” home energy standards. 

Lord Deben, the chairman of the Climate Change Committee, has written to Mr Harvie, warning it is “essential” that energy efficiency ratings are appropriate. 

In his letter, Lord Deben has stressed energy performance certificates “are a critically important policy tool for delivering net zero homes”, but warns “the present arrangements are not fit for purpose”. 

He adds that despite the purpose being to reduce household climate emissions, “the current rating metrics are poorly suited to this role”, as Lord Deben pointed to “incentivising changes to homes that reduce emissions”. 

Plans to end the climate impact of heating homes in Scotland will cost an estimated £33 billion, with no delivery plan for the funding yet to be set out. 

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are the only government in the UK to hold the Carbon Trust Triple Standard, which recognises our significant year-on-year absolute reductions in energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and waste management. 

“Carbon emissions across the Scottish Government estate have reduced by 45% over the past 10 years. 

“We are working to reduce our direct and indirect emissions to the lowest level possible, and the decarbonisation of our estate is very likely to make use of heat pumps.”