Foreword: Flexible, sustainable, and clean system solutions- building heating in the futureStudies show that extensive introduction of waste heat can be very effective for the heating systems in Europe. But still, more efficient systems and solutions are needed as the share of energy for heating will be just as high in the future. Efficient energy supply can be obtained with district heating systems - through central heating plants utilizing surplus (or waste) heat from industrial sites. It is also interesting to look into new concepts using CO
2 as transfer fluid.
Heat pump technologies are also a way to reach the goals of creating affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all as stated in the Sustainable Development Goals from the United Nations. Today, one out of five people does not have access to electricity, and three billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal, or animal waste for cooking and heating. Combinations of heat pump technologies with energy storage, solar, and wind energy are possible solutions to fulfil these goals.
As the production cost per kWh electricity has reduced to a level competitive with fossil fuels, most countries are investing in both photovoltaic panels and wind power to stabilise, optimise, and increase the renewable electricity production. Many solutions are available, but also the demand side needs to be more flexible. Heat pumps, large scale and low-consumption, clustered in pools, can act as balancing units in the grid.
Lars Reinholdt & Svend Pedersen
Danish Technological Institute, Refrigeration and Heat Pump Technology, DenmarkThe text is shortened by HPCRead the full HPT Magazine hereColumn: Heat Pump Investments by Finnish House Owners are up to Half a Billion Euros per Year
During 2017, Finnish house owners’ investments in the more than 60 000 installed heat pumps were as much as half a billion euros. More than 800 000 heat pumps have been installed over the years and over 70 % of new builders of single-family houses decide to choose a heat-pump solution. This huge investment in the environment is made mainly by home owners using their own money.
The number of exhaust-air heat pumps in apartment buildings is increasing rapidly. They can reduce up to 50 % of the consumption of district heat of an apartment building. The potential of these solutions is considerable: 5 TWh/a available as exhaust air.
During 2017, new business models were created. The heat-pump heat-sales model means that the actual service-provider company is the one that makes the heat pump investment and delivers the thermal energy, as well as cooling when desired, to the customer. The customer is invoiced for the energy in the same way as for electricity or district heating. For the apartment owner this requires no investments but leads to lower energy costs.
Even more important is that heat pumps provide an excellent means for electricity-grid power-demand management. A heat pump is a unique bridge technology between heat and electricity. It can use water volumes, buildings, geothermal wells as well as bidirectional cooling/heating features, such as energy storage.
Jussi Hirvonen, Executive Director, The Finnish Heat Pump Association SULPU ry, FinlandThe text is shortened by HPCRead the full HPT Magazine here
