France has announced a ban on installing gas boilers in new buildings, which includes commercial buildings, beginning in 2027. The announcement was made by Prime Minister
Sébastien Lecornu, who said that the government would double its current support for electrifying heating to €10 billion ($11.7 billion) annually by 2030. In support of electrification, the French government has committed to installing 1 million heat pumps made in France annually by 2030. France already had bans for oil and gas boilers on the books prior to this announcement. Oil boilers have been banned in all buildings since 2022.
Gas boilers have been banned in new single-family homes from 2022 and in new multi-family homes from 2025, although hybrid boilers have been allowed. France plans to convert 2 million social housing units from gas boilers to electrified heat systems by 2050. The bans are part of France implementing the mandates of the European Union’s 2024 Revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) into national law. The EPBD calls for the decarbonization of heating and cooling through district heating and cooling networks along with “the phasing out of fossil fuels in heating and cooling with a view to a complete phasing out of fossil fuel boilers by 2040.” France had the highest amount of installed heat pumps in Europe with 6.5 million as of 2024.
While sales data by refrigerant is unavailable, propane (R290) heat pumps are increasingly common in the residential sector and accounted for 38% of all KEYMARK certifications in 2024.
KEYMARK is a voluntary certification standard for European heat pumps, and the organization certified 2,443 heat pump models in 2024
SOURCE: https://naturalrefrigerants.com/news/france-to-ban-gas-boilers-in-all-new-buildings-starting-in-2027/
