Heat pump training grants to tackle skills shortage

The government is offering heating engineers grants to become qualified heat pump installers.

In total, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has set aside £5 million for its Heat Training Grant scheme.

It offers heating engineers £500 discounts for training at 60 approved training centres across England.

Lord Callanan, minister for energy efficiency and green finance, said: “Heat pumps and heat networks are critical technologies for decarbonising heat – and play an important role in the country’s push towards net zero.

“With consumer demand set to surge in the coming years, we have committed to helping industry manufacture our own heat pumps and we will need thousands more expert installers ready for action.

“This grant will not only give the rollout of heat pumps and heat networks a huge boost but will help to develop a skilled workforce who will reap the rewards of joining a thriving installer market.”

The initiative comes following mounting concerns about the UK’s workforce capacity.

Last year, charity Nesta warned government that a lack of heat pump installers risked jeopardising UK targets of installing 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028.

A report released by the charity estimated that last year there were only 3,000 heat pump engineers in the UK and at least another 27,000 will need to be trained over the next six years. This, it said, will require annual increases of 4,000 to 6,000.

A government-funded study carried out by Utilita last year also warned that supply chain constraints were the biggest barrier to mass heat pump deployment.

In response to the government initiative to tackle the skills shortage, Charlotte Lee, CEO of the Heat Pump Association, said:  “Creating a large, highly skilled heat pump installer base is essential for expanding heat pump rollout in the UK and is a priority for the Association and its members.

“Heat pumps are a key aspect of decarbonising home heating and are central to achieving the government’s net zero targets. We encourage heating engineers to make use of the Heat Training Grant to undertake subsidised training and expand their skill set and future proof their business in readiness for the exponential growth required to meet the government’s target of installing 600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028.”

Alongside the training scheme, DESNZ also launched its Heat Pump Investment Accelerator Competition, offering £30 million to build new factories or expand existing ones to manufacture heat pumps and heat pump components.