Division 3.3 Minimum performance of heat pumps to be considered as renewable energy under the Directive

In accordance with Annex VII to the Directive, Member States shall ensure that only heat-pumps with a SPF above 1,15 * 1/η are taken into account.

With power system efficiency (η) set at 45,5 % (see Section 1 and footnote 3) it implies that the minimum SPF of electrically driven heat pumps (SCOP_net) to be considered as renewable energy under the Directive is 2,5.

For heat pumps that are driven by thermal energy (either directly, or through the combustion of fuels), the power system efficiency (η) is equal to 1. For such heat pumps the minimum SPF (SPER_net) is 1,15 for the purposes of being considered as renewable energy under the Directive.

Member States should consider, in particular for air sourced heat pumps, how large a fraction of their already installed capacity of heat pumps have a SPF above the minimum performance. In that assessment the Member States may rely on both test data and measurements, although lack of data may in many cases reduce the assessment to expert judgment by each Member State. Such expert judgments should be conservative, meaning that the estimates rather underestimate than overestimate the contribution of heat pumps^f1. In the case of air-sourced water heaters it is normally only in exceptional cases that such heat pumps have an SPF above the minimum threshold.