Replacing boilers with heat pumps would cost 200,000 million, according to the gas sector

2023-10-19 19:13:24

The gas sector has warned that the replacement of the current boiler park in Spain with heat pumps as a solution for residential decarbonization “will not be possible in Spain”, since it does not represent the best solution given the type of building in the country and would have a economic cost of 201,314 million euros.

In a report carried out by Sedigás with Arthur D. Little, the employers’ association estimated that this replacement of the current boiler park – some 11.1 million units between 8.9 million atmospheric and 2.2 million condensation – towards the aerothermal would be equivalent to about dtwice the public spending on national health and 15 times more than replacing high-efficiency gas boilers. Specifically, they stressed that the deployment of the heat pump requires at least an investment that exceeds 90% of the average net disposable income, with an amount of about 18,000 euros.

Furthermore, to this replacement of boilers with the solution of electrification of heat pumps, we should add a “high investment” in electrical infrastructurein order to double the current electrical distribution network for its supply.

And the residential sector in Spain starts from a different reality than that of other European countries, with a lower energy consumption than the European average – 17% of the total compared to 40%, and, on that percentage, around 40% associated with heating, which means that homes are responsible for 12-15% of total emissions, compared to 36% for the rest of the continent, the association estimated.

For this reason, at a press conference, the president of Sedigás, Joan Batalla, considered that for the decarbonization of home heating in Spain we must focus on “energy efficiency of the equipment and the commitment to renewable gases”, taking into account the biomethane potential of the country that would allow decarbonizing practically all of the demand for heating. “There is no need to change equipment or new condensing boilers, which are already prepared for even percentages of hydrogen,” he added in this regard.

Biomethane potential

And the fact is that, with the gas employers’ estimates, Spain has a potential of 163 terawatt hours (TWh) per year of biomethane generation, a figure that would comfortably cover 100% of that domestic gas demand in the country.

Battle defended that there is no “single and exclusive” alternative to decarbonize home heating, so all available renewable options must be available, facilitating the principle of technological neutrality. In this regard, Sedigás believes that the renewable nature of the heating system It does not depend on technology, “but on fuel”so electrification should not be considered the only way to achieve decarbonization objectives.

The gas sector did not disregard the heat pump as a system for this, since it can be an appropriate solution for homes with a high average disposable income and a horizontal building, as occurs in northern European countries, although it stressed that In the case of Spain it is “practically impossible” its adoption due to the space requirements demanded by aerothermal systems.