As the SPIUG expert emphasizes, the adopted EPBD directive does not rule out heating even new houses using natural gas boilers. It will certainly require changing the mixture to a more ecological one, but this does not mean the obligation to replace gas boilers in homes.
- According to the SPIUG expert, gas boilers as a peak source in hybrid systems supporting heating, e.g. with heat pumps or solar collectors, are not covered by the ban.
- The use of renewable gases to power gas boilers in the future will be clarified, which also applies to the future use of self-installed gas boilers powered by renewable gases, which will also not include restrictions.
On March 12, 2024, the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) was adopted by the European Parliament by a large majority of votes (370 for, 199 against) in the form we announced at the end of 2023.
Now the final step is official adoption by the Council, which should happen soon. The text will then be published in the Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force twenty days later.
What’s next for natural gas heating after the entry into force of the EPBD directive in Poland?
The vote on the EPBD directive has been accompanied for about two weeks by a campaign about bans on the use of gas boilers.
Unfortunately, sensational media titles and the use of sentences taken out of context, just like in 2022, when work on the current shape of the EPBD began, again introduce information confusion among the recipients of this information – emphasizes Janusz Starościk, president of the management board of SPIUG. – All these comments ignore the key fact that the EPBD is mainly devoted to increasing the efficiency of buildings by improving their physical parameters, which leads to a reduction in the supply of electricity and heat, which again directly translates into a reduction in the consumption of electricity, gas, biomass and other energy carriers necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the building, which is the main goal of the EPBD, and not the issue of bans on the use of gas boilers.
For balance, let’s recall the issues regarding heating and gas boilers – do the bans really look like they are presented in the media?
The provisions include a ban on subsidies for fossil fuel heating equipment from 2025, with certain exceptions, and a non-binding agreement to completely phase out the use of fossil fuels for heating by 2040.
The EPBD directive will make solar panels on the roofs of houses (solar collectors, PV panels) – newly built or renovated – mandatory, provided that their use is economically justified.
Examples of provisions included in the EPBD:
- Annex II “Model for national building renovation plans” (p. 128): Member States should provide an overview of policies and measures regarding “(f) the decarbonization of heating and cooling, including through district heating and cooling networks, and the phasing out of fossil fuels in heating and cooling cooling with a view to completely phasing out fossil fuel boilers by 2040.
Article 11 “Technical building systems” (page 77):
“5. Member States shall strive to replace self-installed fossil fuel boilers in existing buildings so that they are consistent with national plans to phase out fossil fuel boilers.
6. Commission issues guidance on what qualifies as a fossil fuel boiler.
That is gas boilers as a peak source in hybrid systems supporting heating, e.g. with heat pumps or solar collectors are not covered by the ban, and the use of renewable gases to power gas boilers in the future will also be clarified, regarding the future use of self-installed gas-powered boilers renewable gaseswhich will also not include restrictions – emphasizes the president of SPIUG.
What financial support for heating technologies after the entry into force of the EPBD directive?
The SPIUG expert emphasizes that despite the slow move away from natural gas heating, there should still be subsidies by the end of 2026 for energy-saving gas heating boilers that should be ready to change the heating mixture to hydrogen or biogas.
He refers here to the following provisions enacted in the EPBD:
Recital 14 (p. 14): “Member States should aim to phase out self-installed fossil fuel boilers and, as a priority, no financial support should be granted for the installation of self-installed fossil fuel boilers from 2025, except for those that have been selected for investment under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund before 2025. It should continue to be possible to grant financial support for the installation of hybrid heating systems with a significant share of renewable energy, such as combining a boiler with solar energy thermal (solar collectors) or heat pump.
Article 15(1) 10 “Financial support, skills and market barriers” (p. 93): “From 1 January 2025 at the latest, Member States shall not provide financial support for the installation of self-contained boilers powered by fossil fuels, with the exception of boilers selected for investment before 2025” .
It is also worth adding that in the case of financial support, two dates apply: 2025 and 2027.
From 1 January 2025, Member States shall not provide any financial incentives for the installation of stand-alone boilers powered by fossil fuels. This is the rule, but exceptions apply. If financial incentives have been chosen for investment before 2025, in accordance with the articles of the regulations on European funds (RRF, FEDER, CAP, etc.), this is still possible until the end of the multiannual financial framework in 2027. These exemptions should apply in particular in countries where coal boilers are to be replaced with natural gas boilers. This means that the Clean Air program should be covered by these exceptions until 2027, says the president of SPIUG.
A lot of changes in the rigorous course before the adoption of the EPBD
However, EPBD is primarily about reducing energy consumption in buildings.
·In art. 9 section Article 1 on minimum energy performance standards for the non-residential sector sets out rules that will lead to the renovation of 16% of the worst-performing buildings by 2030 and 26% of the worst-performing buildings by 2033. Member States will be able to decide whether to express energy consumption thresholds primary or final.
Member States may also exceed the requirements for individual buildings in specific cases, while ensuring that the criteria for such exemptions are clear, precise and rigorous. Where such exemptions apply, Member States are expected to achieve equivalent improvements in energy performance in other parts of the non-residential building stock.
In art. 9 section Article 2 on the trajectory for the gradual renovation of the housing sector obliges Member States to establish a national trajectory to reduce the average primary energy consumption of the residential building stock by 16% by 2030 and by 20-22% by 2035. 55% of the average primary energy consumption will have to be achieved by renovating residential buildings with the worst energy characteristics – emphasizes the SPIUG expert.
There have been quite a few changes to the European Commission’s hard-pressed original proposal from December 2021.
What started as a rigorous plan to systematically renovate the worst-performing buildings has degenerated into a vague set of targets, giving EU countries wide latitude to achieve a 20-22% reduction in residential energy use by 2035. The 55% gains must come from 43% the worst buildings achieving the worst results – notes the president of SPIUG.
Non-residential buildings, on the other hand, follow a more stringent path. By 2030, the worst-performing 16% of buildings, such as offices and schools, should be renovated, the bottom 16%, and the worst-performing 26% by 2033.
The new arrangements will come into force at the end of 2026 and will require EU countries to present a set of actions by which they aim to achieve these targets in the residential and non-residential sectors. Instead of a coherent EU-wide approach, the newly adopted law imposes responsibility on Member States for the effective implementation of policies – emphasizes the president of SPIUG.
Is the discussion on the final shape of the EPBD directive not over?
Before the vote, interested parties feared that a last-minute revolt by the center-right EPP group could result in the bill not being adopted in plenary.
The group’s spokesman, Irish MP Seán Kelly, said the informal agreement reached during trilogue negotiations in December meant his party could vote in favor after the group’s traditional coordination meeting before the parliamentary sessions in Strasbourg.
However, the EPP was not completely united, with center-right German MPs voting against the bill – as did other members of Germany’s Renew. Although there is only one formal step left – the nod from the EU Council – there are opinions that the discussion on the final shape of the EPBD is not over yet, given the latest trends in last-minute blockades in Brussels.
