Heat pump suppliers in Germany call for lower electricity prices amid falling demand

For Germany to meet its target of installing 500,000 heat pumps a year from 2024, end-user electricity prices must be reduced, according to the country’s association of heat pump suppliers. Demand for heat pumps in Germany has meanwhile fallen sharply. This is reflected in a drop in applications for investment subsidies, with roughly half as many submitted in the first half of this year as in the first half of last year.

Last year’s reduction in the maximum investment subsidy for heat pump purchases, along with the gradual decline in natural gas prices from last year’s record highs, caused demand for heat pumps in Germany to fall sharply. The situation was not helped by the prolonged public debate over a ban on installing fossil fuel boilers, which was originally due to take effect in 2024, but which the government was ultimately forced to postpone until 2028.

In response to the situation, the German Heat Pump Association (BWP) urged the government, according to the foreign news outlet Clean Energy Wire, to lower end-user electricity prices and thereby make heat pumps more attractive to consumers.