OFTEC NEWS
“Our sector continues to push for a low-carbon liquid fuel alternative to kerosene - HVO - that can work in tandem with electrification.”
produced jet fuel and heating oil. The reality is there will be jet (kero) shortages later this year. According to IEA, Europe has replaced just over half of the jet fuel supply lost from the Middle East following the US-Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. These supplies are coming from as far away as the US and Nigeria. On the local front, we have seen ‘limited’ support from governments. In the Republic, the Government has proposed €505m in fuel cost measures which include excise cuts for diesel and petrol, but no direct support for the price of kerosene. The proposed increase in carbon tax scheduled for May has been postponed until October. In Northern Ireland, the Assembly received £17m from Westminster to directly assist home heating consumers (as the market has over 60% market share) and NI is disproportionally worse off than GB. If this money was split across the c500,000 users, it would result in a miserly £34 each. As we go to print, the proposal is that support will be capped to those earning under £30,000 and this will be topped up to £100 from the local Assembly. At today’s prices, that would not buy you 100L of kerosene. So, is the support package offered by the government(s) enough? The word from National Energy Action and many politicians is a resounding no, it is not and more needs to be done, especially if kero prices remain at their current level as we move towards the winter. Future policy Looking at the bigger picture, many say a reliance on imported fossil fuels is not the way forward and renewable energy should be prioritised as a key tenet of
future policy. But it’s not that simple. Renewable technology takes time and costs a lot of money, which consumers don’t have at this time of crisis. Look at a recent report from ESRI. It said the Irish state is failing miserably at meeting its own targets for heat pump installs and retrofits. Based on figures up to the end of 2024, which are not thought to have progressed significantly, just under 58,000 deep retrofits had been completed and just over 14,000 heat pumps had been installed in existing homes. This represents a paltry 11.5% of the retrofit target and 3.5% of the heat pump target. ESRI is unequivocal in its analysis that one of the primary root causes of this under delivery is cost. The study noted that the cost of a deep-energy retrofit ranges from almost €23,000 for an apartment to €66,500 for a detached house, with the portion of the cost covered by the homeowner ranging from €16,378 to €42,900. These sorts of costs are not practical for the working person, and our sector continues to push for a low-carbon liquid fuel alternative to kerosene – HVO - that can work in tandem with electrification. Energy is a hot topic (excuse the pun)
and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Will a change in government in the UK see a more liberal approach to the use of fossil fuels? Will we see more of a stance towards home-grown energy (if that is possible). In the Republic of Ireland, Tánaiste Simon Harris has asked officials in his department to examine measures that would make households less dependent on fossil fuels. Some may think that is more of a push towards electrification, but his words were, “So, I am asking officials to examine whether there are additional practical supports we can introduce to help people upgrade their home heating systems, including hybrid heat pumps or lower- emission fuels like HVO.” This is very positive for our sector and great timing with ongoing discussions around the Renewable Heating Obligation. Ironically, given the higher oil prices, you would think boiler sales would be down. That’s not the case. OFTEC members report a current increase in demand for condensing liquid fuel boilers. Counter intuitive one may think but, given the annual savings over standard boilers (25- 28%), you can see exactly what the priority is – initial capital spend for continuing annual savings!
David Blevings, OFTEC Ireland Manager on T: +44 (0)28 9186 2916 Sean McBride, Ireland Representative on T: +44 (0)7540 502 304 (NI) or +353 (0)87 241 7041 (RoI) www.oftec.org Want to know more?
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