The number of pellet stoves and boilers operating in the EU increases by 10% per year

pellet stove
  • Seven million independent homes in the European Union were heated thanks to an individual pellet stove or boiler during 2019.
  • In that year, more than 750.000 pieces of equipment were sold and the expectation is that the European biomass technical heating park will continue to increase at a rate of no less than 10% per year.

Biomass is the main source of renewable energy for heating in the European Union, with about 85% of contribution. In addition to large centralized installations capable of supplying thermal energy through distribution networks to entire cities, as in Stockholm or Copenhagen, there is a large market for domestic heating for independent houses.

 

Pellet stoves and boilers are the most used solid biomass heating equipment in the EU28

Pellet stoves account for 80% of the biomass equipment for domestic heating with a power lower than 50 kW, while the remaining 20% ​​are boilers that supply heat through a radiator system or by underfloor heating.

As estimated from latest statistical report from Bioenergy Europe, in 2019 the EU28 had 7 million domestic solid biomass heating installations, of which 5,6 million were pellet stoves and 1,4 million were pellet boilers.

Biomass heating users in France, Italy and Spain mostly favor pellet stoves, with 93% of installations of this type in single-family homes, compared to 7% for pellet boilers. However, in countries like Germany or Austria, the trend is the opposite and the installation of pellet boilers is prevailing over that of stoves.

 

Pellet boilers at a good time

In 2019, the installation of new pellet boilers of power below 50 kW for domestic use in the EU28 grew by around 10% compared to the previous year, exceeding 132.000 units sold.

The market is in a good moment, driven by the EU's environmental policies to decarbonise the domestic heating sector and by support for neighboring economies.

Germany leads the EU with more than 287.000 biomass boilers in operation, followed by Italy, Bulgaria and Austria with more than 140.000 boilers each. Germany, Bulgaria, France and Italy are achieving sales exceeding 15.000 units each year.

In Spain, Bioenergy Europe statistics assign a park of more than 20.000 pellet boilers for domestic use in 2019, the year in which 2.500 units were sold.

 

More pellet stoves in Mediterranean countries

Regarding the installation of pellet stoves, the latest available statistics indicate that in 2019 5,6 million pieces of equipment were operating in the EU. In that year, sales exceeded 621.000 units, with a remarkable positive evolution in the Mediterranean countries.

In first position, Italy with just over two million stoves in operation and leading the sales ranking with 170.000 units; followed by France, which at the end of 2019 had more than a million pellet stoves in operation and sales of more than 157.000 stoves.

According to the Bioenergy Europe report, 320.000 pellet stoves have been installed in Spain and 2019 units were sold in 55.143, one for every 851 Spaniards.