France Reserves Heat-Pump Subsidies For Models Made In Europe, Cuts Jobs At BDR Thermea

From September, the French Ministry of Industry announced that part of the financial aid for installing heat pumps (PAC) will be reserved for models of “good quality and produced in Europe,” with the subsidies allocated by the energy savings certificates (CEE) mechanism redirected toward these devices.

“01:12 01:59 04:45 04:47 01:45 01:19 06:47 20 Minutes with AFP Published on January 23, 2026 at 3:51 PM • Updated on January 23, 2026 at 4:28 PM Made in Europe soon prioritized”

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The rules require that the heat pump have its refrigerant circuit assembled directly in the European Economic Area, and households will be entitled to a total aid of €3,500 for the purchase of an approved heat pump model of air/water, water/water or ground/water types.

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For non-approved models, the aid will be only €700, while the equipment still costs around €15,000, according to the Ministry of Industry’s announcement.

The government set a timetable for manufacturers to file their approval applications on an online platform by the end of February, with the list of approved heat pumps stated to be known in July and the new rules taking effect in the fall.

The local report added that from 2026 only heat pumps manufactured in Europe will be eligible for the largest subsidies, and it cited the BDR Thermea France plant in Mertzwiller (Bas-Rhin) as needing to cut 320 jobs out of 800 due to the collapse of the heat-pump market in Europe, according to its management.

An Imperial College London analysis across 854 European cities during the June–August period found that 70% of heat-related deaths were attributable to climate change driven by fossil fuels.

The study attributed 16,469 (empirical 95% confidence interval: 15,013 to 17,864) of the 24,400 total deaths that occurred between June and August to the heat, and it said summer temperatures across Europe are now 1.5 to 2.9 °C higher than they would have been without fossil-fuel use.

Al-Jazeera Net

Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-author of the report, said: "The causal chain from burning fossil fuels to higher heat and higher mortality is undeniable," and she added that if fossil fuels had not been burned in recent decades, most of the estimated deaths would not have occurred this summer.

The analysis also estimated 4,597 heat-related deaths in Italy, 2,841 in Spain, and 1,477 in Germany, and it said people aged 65 and older accounted for about 85% of the total deaths.

It warned that expanding green and blue spaces reduces the urban heat island effect, quoting experts that "expanding green and blue spaces reduces this urban heat island effect" and provides cooler spaces vital during heat waves.

As Western Europe experiences a heat wave, Al-Jazeera Net linked renewed debate about climate change to the electricity and water consumption of AI companies and said temperatures reached record levels surpassing 40°C in several European capitals, including Madrid, which recorded 41°C.

The report it cited from the United Nations University Institute for Water and Environment said electricity consumption by AI data centers could reach nearly 1,000 terawatt-hours per year, and it projected that water used for cooling these centers is expected to exceed 3.2 billion cubic meters per year by 2028.

Al-Jazeera Net also reported that a recent study projected water use in this sector would reach 7 billion cubic meters by 2027, and it stated that estimates suggest data centers consume between 1 liter and 9 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of energy used.

In parallel, Montel News described how data centers are migrating south as grid connection times in hubs like Frankfurt, London, and Amsterdam reach up to 13 years, forcing developers to seek geographic diversification.

Montel News quoted Lex Coors, president of the European Data Centre Association, saying: "We cannot afford to wait a decade for a grid connection while AI demand doubles," and it added that Ember estimates the FLAP-D share of the market will fall to 55% by 2030 and to 51% by 2035.