A Year of Progress and Partnership in the UK’s Clean Heat Sector: Genius Energy Lab’s 2025 Review

2025 was a defining year for clean heat in the UK. While policy signals shifted and the market worked hard for clarity, our focus at Genius Energy Lab remained constant: steady, value-led progress.

We invested in people, strengthened our technical capability, deepened partnerships, and continued to deliver GSHP designs that meet the realities of construction and the long-term needs of buildings. In a year of moving parts, purpose kept us anchored.

Clean Heat in 2025: A Sector in Motion

Heat pumps took a major step forward this year, officially recognised as one of the UK’s six frontier clean energy industries in the Government’s new Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan. It’s one of the clearest signals yet that low-carbon heat is not peripheral, but a cornerstone of our national energy infrastructure.

A Policy Landscape Taking Shape

This year’s key developments included:

• BUS continuity, offering welcome stability for households and supply chains into 2026
• Heat pumps named in the UK Clean Energy Strategy, positioned alongside wind, nuclear, hydrogen, CCUS and fusion
• £13.2bn Warm Homes Plan to scale low-carbon heat
• A long-term focus on closing the gas vs electricity price gap
• Skills investment to support 70,000 clean heat installers by 2035

We feel the above amounts to a meaningful vote of confidence: the UK is backing heat pumps for the long term - and hope the realities of these initiatives meet that ambition in 2026. 

The Genius team looks forward to learning more about the rollout of these policies as they come to fruition.

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New Energy in the Genius Team

Within the team itself, we also felt newly energised. This year, we welcomed Declan Andrews, Graduate Design Engineer; Ruth Shalini Goonawardena, Graduate Design Engineer; Zsuzsa Mayer PhD, Project Lead - GEL Special Projects; and Mike Kellett, Strategic Lead - ASHP Solutions. Each strengthening our capabilities across engineering, modelling, research, and delivery. Their expertise has already raised the bar on what we can design and how we support clients.

Deepening Technical Capability

In July, Project Engineer Ellis Laird visited Ecoforest’s new factory in Spain to gain hands-on training across the full Volta range: from R&D testing and configuration software to installation and commissioning.

As Ellis put it: 

“The factory tour and training deepened my understanding of the full Volta process from development to installation. Thanks to Ecoforest and Genius Energy Lab for the opportunity!”

This kind of immersion helps us specify systems with confidence and ensure our designs perform under real conditions, not theoretical ones.

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Project Delivery: Collaboration at Its Best

2025 saw a diverse portfolio of GSHP projects, each one strengthening our technical range and deepening collaboration with our partners.

Some Key Sites From This Year

• 52 Avenue Road: an ultra-prime London development delivering a 74.3% on-site carbon reduction, designed through a complex, multi-year process.
  
  
• A large-scale luxury residential redevelopment project in Central London, designed to meet stringent performance and planning requirements. And expected to cut operational carbon emissions by 94% and deliver a 58% reduction in lifetime emissions over 60 years.
  
  
• A school retrofit decarbonization project in Gloucestershire. Incorporaing PVT-Enhanced Ground Source Heat Pumps into the full technical design to cut carbon, reduce operating costs, and comply with MEES and Net Zero targets. 

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Partner Visit with Onsen Energy

In August, our team travelled to Godalming for a full on-site day with installation partner Onsen Energy. Hosted by Gareth Berry and the Onsen team, the visit gave our engineers first-hand insight into drilling realities, plant-room logistics and commissioning workflows - the kind of knowledge that strengthens every design decision we make, keeps standards high and progress happening.

‍Raising the Bar: Quality, Capability & Accreditation

This year was also about sharpening our foundations: the systems, standards and tools that underpin every design.

Highlights

• New Website - built to reflect our technical depth, values and commitment to clarity in a complex sector.
• SMAS Worksafe Accreditation - reinforcing our commitment to safe, compliant delivery on every site.
• Technical Training Day at MasterTherm in Prague - with Engineering Manager Josh Turner PhD, and Design Engineer Raj Naicker PhD, strengthening our understanding of performance optimisation and advanced system controls.

2025 was a fantastic year, proving that doing the work behind-the-scenes makes everything we deliver better.

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Strengthening Industry Ties

Collaboration remains core to how we work, and this year we deepened that commitment across the sector.

We Joined the Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE)

Becoming an ADE: Heat Networks member reflects our belief that low-carbon heat requires coordinated effort: system designers, installers, policymakers and communities pulling in the same direction.

We Officially Joined the Heat Pump Association (HPA)

Coinciding with the GSHPA and HPA merger at the end of the year, this marks an important moment for industry alignment and for Genius Energy Lab as we contribute to shaping the next stage of UK heat pump deployment.

Ready for What’s Next: Looking Ahead to 2026

2026 will bring new policy frameworks, a maturing installer ecosystem, and continued pressure to deliver clean heat at scale. And we’re ready for it.

To close, a message from CEO Richard Davis:

“2025 marked our eleventh consecutive year of growth, and I’m proud that the headline isn’t just sales - it’s skills. We doubled down on coaching and training, got our engineers on the ground with manufacturer visits in Prague and Spain, and ran drilling best-practice workshops with Onsen Energy in Godalming. We welcomed new team members to deepen R&D and innovation as well as new Graduate Engineers lifting our technical capability, sales, and delivery to an even higher standard.

Our investment in COP Angel is moving through the prototype phase and we begin testing in January - a big milestone for us, and for our partners.

Looking ahead, our focus is international expansion built on strong foundations: HubSpot, ClickUp, and thoughtful automations that let us scale with quality. Same values, bigger stage - people first, best advice and focusing on the details, real-world impact. 

I'm excited for the next 12 months and would like to wish all our partners best wishes for 2026. 

Thank you for continuing on this journey with us. We are all better together.”

To stay up to date with all the news from Genius Energy Lab in 2026, subscribe to The Source: our monthly round-up of GSHP and clean heat sector developments, plus team updates. 

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