No more ban on gas boilers
Until then, 12 million French householdsnew and old homes combined, used a gas boiler to heat their home or produce their hot water.
Since 2022, with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality and facing the problems generated by the war between Russia and Ukraine in gas imports, the installation of this type of boiler is prohibited in new homes and its replacement by a heat pump would become mandatory for older homes.
However, during his intervention during the 8 p.m. television news broadcast on TF1 and France 2 on Sunday September 24, Emmanuel Macron insisted on the fact that faster actions are necessary to succeed in achieving the objectives set for 2030: he is so necessary to act twice as quickly, he said. In this context, the potential ban on gas boilers is no longer the priority and Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will give it up for the moment.
Insufficient electricity production
But the speed of action and results on the carbon footprint is not the only sticking point: the massive and rapid replacement of gas boilers would lead to other problems which have been identified by the Commission for Regulation of energy (CRE).
She, in fact, recalled that heat pumps need electricity to operate, and although electricity production in France emits only a few greenhouse gases due to the presence of nuclear power plants, it is insufficient to be able to meet demand in winterwhen consumption is at its highest.
According to calculations, a massive switch to heat pump heating systems would require an additional 35 gigawatts in winter, or the production capacity of around 30 nuclear reactors, without forgetting that it would be necessary the production of heat pumps is tripled. The quickest solution to fill the lack of electricity would be to import that produced by coal-fired power plants in Germany, which are, in turn, very emitting carbon. The gain on the path to carbon neutrality would therefore be zero!
Leave the coal behind
The Government knows full well that coal is, by far, the most polluting resource, which means that to support the ecological transition, it is necessary to take care of this resource as a priority compared to the transition from gas boilers to heat pumps. An investment of 40 billion euros is therefore planned for convert the two coal-fired power plants to biomass. The objective would be for France to be among the first countries in Europe to abandon coal.
Towards a disappearance of aid
On the other hand, to limit the installation of gas boilers in homes, they are no longer eligible for MaPrimeRénov’ aid. Furthermore, with the ban on gas boilers no longer on the agenda, the aid allowing their replacement will be reduced or even eliminated.
You should know that a gas boiler is much cheaper to purchase since its price is between €4,000 and €8,000, while heat pumps cost between €8,000 and €15,000 depending on the model. Energy saving certificates will be abolished from the start of 2024. Reduced VAT or even Eco-PTZ are also likely to disappear.
VAT increase
Finally, the replacement of the gas boilers seemed complicated, the President of the Republic took the decision to not penalize the 12 million French households who still heat with gas.
However, a plan to increase the VAT rate applied to their installation raises significant concerns. Currently set at 5.5%, it could reach 20% within the framework of the finance law. The risk this presents is that consumers could turn to models of lower quality and therefore, less efficient and more polluting, which would go against ecological planning.