HEAT PUMPS
balance the electrical grid. At Queen’s Quay in Glasgow, we are creating the UK’s largest river source heat pump for district heating and cooling. In the UK, rivers remain an untapped source of energy, with heat pump technology now available to supply hot water at above 80°C for district heating systems for domestic and commercial buildings. Heat pumps have been shown to be
environmentally and economically viable in operation for individual family homes, new build homes and higher temperature district heat networks, but the uptake remains low. Technical development will aid the quest to use heat pumps in more and more situations, but I believe that the barrier is more financial, due in a large part to Government legislation on taxation and energy policy/pricing. The cost of climate change has to be resolved
one way or another. Domestic heating can be decarbonised through heat pump technology and the cost is not intolerable when taken over a 20-year period. What if funding models emerged that allowed the consumer to agree to receive heat pump generated heat at no capital cost? How might the technology be tweaked to favour those who would then be funding it?
The opportunity would be far better served by supporting a ‘Heat as a Service’ business model, where development is undertaken by the utility provider. The homeowner pays a fixed monthly fee in exchange for ‘comfort’. Depending on gas and electricity costs, this could be cost neutral, but crucially, it is designed to leave all ‘risk’ with the developer, including ongoing maintenance and efficiency aspects. In the domestic market, new heating systems are required across new build properties and as retrofit systems on existing buildings, in both low and high density settings. Making the business model more long-term, supplier risk led, with the deployment more standard, street by street to reduce the readiness time, with fabric upgrades built in, will lead to lowest operating cost. Business models follow policy, if policy seeks to allow and promote business models. What can the industry itself do to see more heat pumps used? Starting at the earliest age, we must educate the engineers of the future. Do heat pumps even exist at any level in national curriculums? Let’s see material developed at all educational levels and make it easy for teachers to share the opportunity. At University
level there are few topics on the potential applications of heat pumps. Like refrigeration, which straddles different faculties, heat pumps are even more hidden in the shadows of other more exotic scientific topics, like spaceflight or fossil fuel extraction. At the time of writing, the UK Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy is out for consultation, outlining future expectations of the energy and emissions performance of buildings. If these cannot be met whilst continuing to be solely heated by gas boilers, this will drive owner/operators to seek alternative sources. Ultimately, political leaders are not up to speed with the possibilities, but it is industry’s role to invite them to see what can be achieved and to engage in consultations to help define policy.
It is clear that ‘we have the technology’ when it comes to heat pump systems. The key lies partly in demonstrating to political leaders that the technology is low risk, predictable and repeatable. Crucially however, we will only see increased use of heat pump technology when legislation offers a decent financial incentive to support domestic and commercial uptake, leading to an acceptable return on investment.
SBS
www.acr-news.com
June 2021 17
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