Electrifying Europe’s heat will not halt gas demand growth – TSE

Heat pumps replacing gas for space heating will be offset by the need for the fuel to meet rising power demand

Europe’s space heating demand is dominated by gas. But new research from energy technology-focused consultancy Thunder Said Energy (TSE) suggests substantial growth in the use of the heat pumps in Europe by 2030 to replace gas will not be enough to change the continent’s trajectory of gas demand growth over the period. TSE models the impact of increasing heat pump roll-out by three-and-a-half times, to 50mn units around Europe by 2030. Every 1mn heat pumps are estimated to displace 10TWh/yr, or 0.1bn ft³/d (2.83mn m³/d), of residential gas heating with 4TWh/yr of electricity demand. 90TWh/yr – Gap between European power supply cuts and demand growth But this generation alone will req