Thursday 7 July 2022

‘Shortage of trained heat pump installers could set back net zero’

Not enough people are being trained as heat pump engineers to meet government targets for installations, a new report finds.

The report, published today by the charity Nesta, estimates that there are currently just 3,000 trained heat pump engineers in the UK.

The authors of the report suggest at least 27,000 engineers will be needed in the next six years, requiring increases of up to 6,000 per year.

The government has set out a target to increase annual installation numbers from around 30,000 before 2020 to 600,000 by 2028.

Codrina Cretu, Senior Analyst of Sustainable Future at Nesta, said: "We will need thousands more heat pump engineers trained every year to make real progress in providing low carbon alternatives to gas boilers and meet increasing demand for qualified installers, but this won’t happen while there is a risk of engineers spending more on training than they will make from it."