France eliminates gas heater subsidies, in its effort to reduce reliance on Russia;

In an effort to minimise dependency on Russian fossil fuel exports, France will halt government subsidies for the installation of new domestic gas heaters and increase assistance for renewable energy heating, the environment minister announced on Wednesday.

France intends to stop importing Russian gas and oil by 2027 as part of a government ‘resilience plan’ aimed at helping households and businesses cope with the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

To reduce gas demand, France will revamp its ‘MaPrimeRenov’ subsidy plan to encourage the use of renewable heating systems such as heat pumps and biomass heaters, including hybrid systems, to replace fossil-fuel-fired heaters.

From April 15 through the end of 2022, the subsidy for ‘virtuous’ household heating will be increased by 1,000 euros ($1,102), while subsidies for new gas heater installations will be eliminated.

‘Support for new gas heater installations will be halted in order to no longer encourage people to remain dependent on gas,’ environment minister Barbara Pompili said at a press conference.

Households, particularly low-income families, will gain from replacing fossil fuel-fired heaters with renewable energy systems if the renovation premium is combined with other government support measures such as energy certificates, she noted.

‘In the long run, we want to wean ourselves from Russian fossil fuels and fossil fuels in general,’ she said.

Heat pumps, which use electricity to harvest energy from the air or the ground, have seen rapid growth in recent years across Europe.

According to the European Heat Pump Association, heat pumps will account for more than 25 percent of annual sales in a total heater market of 7 million units in 2021, with heat pumps quickly becoming the standard solution for new construction and increasingly being used for renovations.

Residential heating electrification is a key component of European Union policies to decarbonize Europe’s buildings.

France will also invest 150 million euros in new funding through its state-run environment and energy agency, ADEME, to assist businesses and municipalities in making the transition to renewable heating, particularly by switching heat networks to biomass.