Industry professionals oppose the revision of the CEE bonus for wood heating

The Higher Energy Council of 24/07/2025, consulted on the draft decrees relating to the CEE, rejected by a very large majority (30 votes against 2 votes) the downward revision of the bonus for wood heating, in particular biomass stoves and boilers, which the sector is very satisfied with.

This change, desired by the government, was presented as a harmonization of the multiplier coefficient of the CEE "boost", supposedly too high for wood heating, for all CEE forms. In reality, the measure appears to be a covert attack on wood heating, after a significant 50% reduction in MaPrimeRenov' in 2024. Indeed, a reduction in the multiplier coefficient for CEE forms for heat pumps is also in preparation (note that it is out of step with wood); however, thanks to a technical modification of the calculation (transition to full final energy), the aid for heat pumps would not be modified.

More than a harmonization measure, this measure is a disguised technical arrangement, disfavoring wood in favor of heat pumps.

Within a very short timeframe (end of public consultation on August 10), Propellet therefore firmly opposes such a decree in its open letter, for several reasons:

1. The reduction in the Heating Boost for wood, in a context of reduced budgetary aid (MaPrimeRenov'), would amount to increasing the cost of installing biomass boilers, thus dealing a further blow to the purchasing power of the French, at a time when social protests are emerging.
2. There is no budgetary issue for the State in this case. The CEEs weigh on the obligated parties. The arguments for reducing MaPrimeRenov' cannot therefore be used in this scenario.
3. The biomass loop argument doesn't hold water, according to Propellet. Only a few thousand biomass boilers are sold per year, compared to hundreds of thousands of heat pumps. No study currently allows for an effective assessment of available biomass by 2030, 2035, or 2040, which led to the creation of the Biomass GIS, which has yet to deliver its work. Using wood to produce electricity or aviation biofuels is not relevant: the yield is very low, and the volumes to be mobilized would be enormous and highly centralized. Using wood to decarbonize industry is not competitive with using wood for domestic heating: more than 80% of log wood comes from self-consumption or untraceable sources, and for wood pellets, less than 1% of its raw material comes from direct forest harvesting. Wood consumption in domestic use is decreasing year on year due to improvements in the performance of appliances, housing and global warming: between 2000 and 2020, consumption fell by 38% while at the same time the number of households heating with wood increased by 25%.
4. Air quality is not an argument either. This is a very important issue for wood heating, recognized by the industry, which concerns old, inefficient appliances (open fireplaces and appliances dating from before 2005) which represent more than 90% of fine particle emissions. To tackle this public health problem, the priority is therefore to replace all old appliances as quickly as possible, as supported by the Atmospheric Protection Plans (and the Air-Wood bonus) and to promote the installation of efficient appliances (which is required by the Coup de Pouce and MPR). Propellet also points out that the concentration of fine particles linked to wood heating (which weigh less than 20% of the total) has been divided by 2 in 20 years.
5. The impact of this reduction in the valuation of the wood incentive will be very significant on the market and its players. Indeed, the majority of wood boilers sold are pellet boilers and more than 90% of these domestic wood boilers are sold as replacements for an oil boiler. The market has been divided by 5 in 2 years, the sector has lost 2.000 Qualibois installers since 2023 (i.e. 30% of the workforce), a wood boiler manufacturer-importer is in recovery and there is a strong risk that other suppliers will be in serious difficulty next year; lowering the CEE for boilers is purely and simply killing the market and its players.

Faced with this unjustified project, Propellet, through its general delegate Eric Vial, calls on the Minister of Energy Marc Ferracci to abandon this revision and to preserve the competitiveness of wood heating within the framework of a diversified renewable energy mix.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.