The Scottish Government has been urged to “lead by example” after figures showed only one of its buildings has an eco-friendly heat pump installed.
Ministers admitted it may be 2025 before any more of the green heating systems are fitted.
The embarrassing revelation comes despite a drive to encourage homeowners to replace gas boilers with heat pumps and other eco-friendly alternatives.
The SNP-Green government has just one hub in its own estate, in Tweedbank, Roxburghshire, fitted with an air source heat pump (ASHP).
SNP Business Minister Ivan McKee said the government would carry out “feasibility studies” on installing gas boiler alternatives.
But he added it would likely be 2024-25 before pipework, radiators and ASHPs would get fitted at selected sites. Labour’s Monica Lennon said: “We know we need to see the rollout of heat pumps happening much more quickly.
“And for the wider public, to give homeowners confidence we need to see this technology in action.
“We should have the Scottish Government leading by example.
“It looks a bit ridiculous that only one Scottish Government building has had a heat pump installed. That’s clearly not good enough.”
The Central Scotland MSP added: “We’re not going to see people spending potentially thousands of pounds on heat pumps if it looks like the Government isn’t so sure. An ASHP can currently cost upwards of £12,000 for homeowners to install.”
But in December, ministers launched a drive to encourage Scots to fit them into their homes with grants of £7500 available, rising to £9000 for people in rural areas.
McKee said: “Feasibility studies will be carried out in the first quarter of the 2023-24 financial year to look at a range of renewable technologies for the estate, including ASHPs.”
Experts say heat pumps could be fitted in nearly all Scots buildings, no matter what age. Home heating accounts for around 30 per cent of the country’s energy usage.
A report this week by WWF Scotland warned the country is falling “significantly short” of its aims to decarbonise the heating of homes.
Just 21,000 Scots residences are fitted with ASHPs. The charity says this will need to be rapidly scaled up to meet a target of installing the devices in more than a million homes by 2030.
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