Slovakia’s gap in heat pump subsidies could ‘lose a year’ of progress

Households in Slovakia postpone replacing their old fossil fuel boilers with greener heat pumps due to a six-month subsidy lag during a crucial period before the heating season, said Petra Čakovská of the Slovak consumer group SOS.

EU-funded subsidy programs for households working to make their houses are massively popular in Slovakia. However, the previous wave ended in April, and the new one will not come until September due to a switch between programming periods.

“It makes no sense to change the heating system during the winter season. Therefore, households postpone its replacement. In this way, we will unnecessarily lose a year in the process of green transformation,” said Čakovská.

The six-month gap is proving to be incredibly disruptive for the heat pump industry, the installation of which is time-sensitive.

The gap in EU subsidies threatens to slow down uptake further. Vladimír Orovnický, president of the Association for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, confirms that demand is low. The heat pump installation cost is too high for most Slovak households, and many choose to wait. Additionally, the lack of clear information upfront means that sellers are hesitant to fill up on stock which threatens to sit unbought in warehouses.

Heat pumps are a main component of EU´s plants to decarbonise heating, lower household bills and limit gas imports from Russia. The European Commission wants 20 million more heat pumps installed by 2026.

Heat pumps are energy-efficient devices that transfer heat from one location to another, providing both heating and cooling. They extract heat from the air, ground, or water sources, requiring less energy than traditional heating and cooling systems.

This energy efficiency results in lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduced dependence on fossil fuels, and the ability to integrate with renewable energy sources.

Slovakia is among a group of Central European countries taking advantage of this growing market. Three new investments are promising a production capacity of 500,000 units per year.

However, the uptake has been particularly slow. In 2022, approximately 13,000 heat pumps were sold in Slovakia. In the Czech Republic, with twice the population, sales were at 60,000, says Orovnický.

Several obstacles are to also blame, including disproportionate taxation of electricity, unprepared distribution companies and a lack of trained technicians.

(Barbara Zmušková, Irena Jenčová | EURACTIV.sk)

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