Heat Strategy for Wales

“In a net zero economy, clean and affordable heat will be accessible to everyone in Wales.”
– Heat Strategy for Wales, 2024

Approximately half of Wales’s total energy demand can be attributed to the production and management of heat.[1] This includes space heating, water heating and industrial activities.

Recent energy crises have highlighted the extent to which homes and businesses across the UK are vulnerable to volatile prices caused by global geo-politics. In Wales, significant change is needed to current heating methods to meet both environmental targets and to ensure heat is affordable to all.

This strategy sets out a plan to achieving clean, affordable, reliable heat in Wales. The Heat Strategy for Wales, developed in consultation with stakeholders and published alongside the government’s response to the 2023 consultation, sets a clear, long-term vision for heat across Wales.

Key highlights of the strategy include:

• A comprehensive sector approach: The strategy addresses all sectors, from low-temperature home heating to high-temperature industrial processes. It also recognises that heat impacts public health, social services and the wider economy.
• A heat pump revolution: The Welsh Government has set an ambition to install 580,000 heat pumps by 2035.[2] The strategy “supports heat pumps as the primary mechanism for domestic heat decarbonisation in Wales; they provide the most efficient, integrated and affordable solution in Wales’s decarbonised future for most use cases. Other low-carbon solutions will complement the rollout of heat pumps where factors support their adoption.”
• An enabling framework: The transition to low-carbon and affordable heat is both a technical and human challenge. The action plan outlines near-term commitments to build an enabling environment addressing barriers across public awareness, trust, costs, supply chain growth and planning regulation.

“The challenge is great, but the opportunity is greater still – transforming heat is an essential aspect of modernising Wales and achieving better outcomes for our people, our businesses, and our environment.”
– Heat Strategy for Wales, 2024

[1] Energy Use in Wales Third Edition, Regen for the Welsh Government, 2024

[2] CABINET STATEMENT – Written Statement: Publication of Summary of Responses to the Consultation on Wales’ Renewable Energy Targets https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-publication-summary-responses-consultation-wales-renewable-energy-targets