Incentives on biomass heating: the situation in France

The amount of aid therefore now depends on family income and the price of the plant (including installation), since the accumulation of various state aid can not exceed a certain percentage of the total cost. Compared to 2020, however, there is a certain coherence since the income thresholds and the aid amounts do not change: it is the procedure for obtaining assistance that ends up being standardized through a central interlocutor, the National Agency for the Housing (ANAH).

Judging that single stock renovations were not going fast enough and not ambitious enough, the government announced in April 2019 a complete overhaul of aid and its allocation to incentivize the renovation of French homes.

Therefore, in January 2020, the government implemented this new financial aid system for the energy renovation of single-family homes by commissioning the National Agency for the Housing (ANAH). Its name: “MaPrimeRénov”.

The launch of “MaPrimeRénov” in January 2020 encountered many difficulties:

– late launch of the website,

– computer bug due to too many consumer connections to the site,

– registration of professionals to validate requests for work made difficult,

– processing times and payments from six to eight months, etc.

The development of this bonus was also made difficult by the lockdown related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

To top it off, this device initially excluded the richest families and these families accounted for over 60% of the energy renovation works carried out in France 2019!

In October 2020, the government decided to speed up by announcing adjustments to the national system with the aim of making it more readable and arousing interest among families:

– Integration of Energy Saving Certificates (EEC).

– Consideration of all French families (all families become eligible for national aid again),

– Integration in the system of owners and condominiums. This integration was not initially planned until January 2021,

– Review of the amount of the prizes,

– Provision of a financial grant for more ambitious overall restructuring, etc.

To understand the state of the situation today, after a year and a half of operation, we have involved some of the main French players in the sector.

• The opinion of FLAMME VERTE (Alex Richard)
• The critical position of POELES.NET (Cyril Esnault and Nicolas Audigane)
• The reflection of ProPellet (Eric Vial)
• Biomass heating in France: sales figures 2020
• The gas experience: L’ÉMOTION GAZ
• The Poujoulat Group: spirit of leadership

A brief photograph of the pellet market

In 2020, pellet production reached 1.7 million tons with a relatively linear increase of about 125,000 tons per year since 2008.

Today, 1.2 million French families are heated with wood pellets.

In 2020, despite a difficult environment, boiler sales increased by 2.5%, after reaching incredible peaks in the first half of the year. Reinvesting in one’s home seems to have become a major concern of many French families.

On the other hand, sales of stoves and other independent appliances fell. The number of parts sold still exceeded 127,000, or -19% compared to 2019. The year was more complicated for the sales of independent devices because the manufacturers could not open their doors during the period of the 1^st and 2^nd lockdown.

Sales of wood heating products in France: 2020 shows a sharp decrease

Every year ADEME commissions a statistical study on the sales of wood-burning household appliances in France from the Observatory of Renewable Energy (Observ’ER). In 2018 and 2019, the market recorded nearly 375,000 devices sales per year. The year 2020, heavily affected by the pandemic, saw sales drop by almost 17% compared to the previous year. But the industry remains optimistic.

Sales down 16.4% in 2020

In 2020, sales of wood-burning appliances dropped dramatically compared to the previous years. According to Observ’ER, 314,865 stoves, fireplaces, inserts, kitchens and boilers with a power lower than or equal to 36 kW were marked in 2020.

The year 2018 ended with 378,980 devices sold compared to 376,640 in 2019.

– The pellet stove shows a drop in sales of 18.7%, going from 149,510 units sold in 2019 to 121,500 in 2020

– The decrease in wood stove sales is smaller, but still 13.7%

– Fireplaces and inserts, free-falling for several years, continue to see their sales decrease, with a decline of 25%

– On the other hand, sales of pellet boilers increased in 2020 compared to the previous year with the marketing of 340 additional boilers. It must be said that this type of heating is greatly favored by public aid.