Fossil gas provides more than half of Italy’s residential space heating and hot water demand but domestic gas production has been in a decline. Heat pumps, therefore, present a critical technology to increase Italy’s energy security and decarbonise residential heat. In addition to space heating, heat pumps provide air cooling and domestic hot water, and satisfy the diverse needs of Italy’s climate.
Italy’s challenge is no longer whether to support clean heating, but how to align pricing, incentives, regulation and infrastructure planning behind a coherent electrification strategy. In Heat pumps for Italy: Aligning energy policy to support the transition to clean heating, RAP experts, Lorenzo Sapochetti, Duncan Gibb and Richard Lowes, examine the conditions supporting heat pump deployment in Italy and the policy barriers that continue to slow progress.
Drawing on RAP’s Heat Pump Policy Toolkit, this paper outlines six key recommendations:
- Establish clear long-term regulatory signals.
- Rebalance energy prices to support clean heating.
- Strengthen and stabilise financial support.
- Integrate electricity and gas network planning.
- Strengthen support for households and installers.
- Embed equity throughout clean heat policy.
Together, these mutually reinforcing recommendations can unlock sustained and equitable growth in heat pump deployment and further Italy’s clean heat transition.
Featured image by FilippoBacci
