The entry into force of the revised EBPD is fast approaching, which introduces major restrictions on home heating using fossil fuels such as natural gas. A new emission tax and a ban on natural gas heating are introduced. What should owners who heat their homes with natural gas do?
- The revision of the EPBD directive leaves no doubts – even heating installations, and very energy-saving ones, because condensing natural gas boilers are distinguished by one of the highest efficiency of 109%, and yet there will clearly be a move away from this type of solutions in favor of emission-free, renewable heating installations. How does the industry producing natural gas boilers for home heating react to all these reports?
- In the case of gas condensing boilers that have been sold for 10 years, there is no such fear. Virtually all currently available devices are adapted to burn biomethane. Older gas boilers and conventional boilers that are present on the market in trace amounts will either need to be appropriately retrofitted or replaced with new condensing boilers
- As Janusz Starościk, president of SPIUG, emphasizes, from 2030, it is planned that all gas boilers introduced to the market will either be adapted to burn 100% hydrogen, or they will be easily adapted to this fuel using a “retrofit” kit, the cost of which should not exceed PLN 150. -160 EUR (approx. PLN 700).
In Poland, from 2027-2028, an ETS2 emission tax will be introduced on fossil fuels burned in households, which will make coal, eco-pea coal and natural gas more expensive, as they will be covered by the new tax in Poland.
In turn, from 2030, all new buildings should be zero-emission; new buildings occupied or owned by public authorities should be emission-free from 2028.
A total ban on installing heating installations based on natural gas from 2030.
According to the new EPDB directive, from 2030, all newly constructed buildings, including residential ones, i.e. houses, will have to be zero-emission. What does it mean?
Renovated buildings or new buildings, including residential ones (including houses), which will be built so that the total annual primary energy consumption comes entirely from renewable sources generated on-site or near the building, e.g. from an efficient heating and cooling or zero-emission system.
More importantly, zero-emission buildings according to the EU directive cannot generate (on site) any carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. This means that from 2030 in new buildings, including houses, it will not be possible to completely use, among others: natural gas heating
In the case of residential buildings, Member States will have to implement measures to reduce the average consumption of primary energy from fossil fuels (including natural gas) by at least 16% by 2030 and at least 20-22% by 2035.
Member States will have to renovate 16% of the worst-performing non-residential buildings by 2030 and 26% of the worst-performing buildings by 2033, applying minimum energy performance requirements.
Regarding the plan to phase out fossil fuel boilers, both institutions agreed that national building renovation plans will have to include a timetable for phasing out such boilers by 2040.
Do gas boilers still have a future in the ongoing decarbonization of the EU?
The revision of the EPBD directive leaves no doubts – even heating installations, and very energy-saving ones, because condensing natural gas boilers are distinguished by one of the highest efficiency of 109%, and yet there will clearly be a move away from this type of solutions in favor of emission-free – renewable heating installations. How does the industry producing natural gas boilers for home heating react to all these reports?
As Janusz Starościk, president of the management board of the Producers Association, emphasizes
and Importers of Heating Equipment (SPIUG), in the heating industry, has been known for many years.
– This does not result from the fact that any politicians, the EU or activists will prohibit its use, but from the prosaic fact that the availability of natural gas is shrinking and in the next 20-30 years, at the current level of consumption in the world, its availability may be significantly limited. . This is not due to excessive use for heating purposes, but primarily due to industrial use. That is why manufacturers of gas boilers have been diversifying their product portfolio for many years and, in addition to gas boilers, they also produce heat pumps, oil boilers, electric boilers, biomass boilers and solar collectors with heat storage – says the president of SPIUG.
The EPBD directive distinguishes between technologies and fuels. Gas boilers currently sold are also adapted to future requirements, i.e. the use of renewable gases or mixtures of natural gas with hydrogen. Such a portfolio allows for the appropriate adjustment of the offer, either through gas boilers fully dedicated to the use of biomethane or hydrogen, including the use of 100% hydrogen as a fuel, but also to prepare an offer of hybrid installations combining natural gas boilers as a peak heating device, e.g. with solar collectors with heat storage or heat pumps, which is allowed by the EPBD directive. Manufacturers of natural gas boilers actively participate in consultations on EU legal acts in order to guarantee end users a safe and cost-acceptable transformation, i.e. a gradual departure from natural gas – emphasizes Janusz Starościk, president of SPIUG.
Are gas boilers now ready to heat homes using biomethane?
As the president of SPIUG emphasizes, all gas boilers sold on the market can now use biomethane as fuel without any special modifications.
It is known that biomethane must have appropriate parameters that will allow it to be injected into the network or condensed and later used for heating. Also, all boilers can now be powered by a gas mixture containing up to 20% hydrogen without any modifications – emphasizes Janusz Starościk, president of SPIUG.
What about boilers that are supposed to heat homes with hydrogen? Companies in the industry have already produced such boilers and are testing them.
How much will it cost to convert a gas boiler so that it can be powered by hydrogen from 2030?
Manufacturers of natural gas boilers are at the stage of introducing solutions and modifications that allow house owners to convert their current gas boilers at the lowest possible cost to operate on a mixture of pure hydrogen, hydrogen and biomethane mixtures.
However, from 2030, it is planned that all gas boilers introduced to the market will either be adapted to burn 100% hydrogen, or they will be easily adapted to this fuel using a conversion kit, the cost of which should not exceed EUR 150-160 (approx. PLN 700). – answers Janusz Starościk, president of SPIUG.
We already have prototypes of Viessmann hydrogen boilers that have already been tested on test stands at the research and development center at the company’s headquarters in Allendorf (Eder) in Germany,
The hydrogen boilers are based on the proven, mass-produced Vitodens natural gas condensing boiler from Viessmann, adapted to work with pure hydrogen. The main modifications include adaptation of the burner and expansion of the combustion, monitoring and flame control system.
Viesmann’s new technical concept allows for the launch of another boiler that will be able to operate on natural gas, mixtures of natural gas with hydrogen, as well as on clean hydrogen, which means that in the future the boilers will be ready for clean hydrogen and will be able to operate in conventional gas mode of the boilers before changing the gas supply.
To operate on a new fuel source, it is only necessary to replace the burner assembly, for which an economical modernization kit is being developed, enabling quick and simple conversion by a specialist installer.
Okay, what about older heating systems and boilers that currently heat homes with natural gas?
What should homeowners do with older natural gas boilers?
Should the owners of current furnaces be afraid that their gas boilers will be incompatible with the ecological fuel (biogas) that will flow through gas installations in the future?
In the case of gas condensing boilers that have been sold for 10 years, there is no such fear. Virtually all currently available devices are adapted to burn biomethane – emphasizes the president of SPIUG. – Older gas boilers and conventional boilers, which are available on the market in trace amounts, will either have to be appropriately retrofitted or replaced with new condensing boilers. However, (in 2030) their share in operating installations will be negligible, so there will be no problem.
There is one more unresolved problem. What mixture of gas or hydrogen will flow in current gas installations after 2030?
What will flow through current gas installations to houses heated with natural gas?
We asked the president of SPIUG whether and how the fuel mixture flowing in gas installations will be modified so that furnace owners can not only use their boilers but also avoid the costs associated with ETS 2 fees?
This question should rather be addressed to PSG, which manages the installations supplying gas to the buildings. The strategy being prepared includes both biomethane and hydrogen and its mixtures, emphasizes Janusz Starościk, president of SPIUG. – The costs associated with the ETS 2 tax alone do not necessarily mean a significant increase in the costs of gas heating, especially since it is difficult to assume that electricity will become cheaper with increased demand.
As the president of SPIUG emphasizes, a properly selected mix. an energy or hybrid system will help optimize heating costs, either using gas boilers, heat pumps and other heating devices, or using the support of solar collectors with heat storage where there are conditions to reduce ETS 2 costs as much as possible
