Optimism high at EU Heat Pump Forum, but crunch points ahead
28 Sep. 2022 | EHPA celebrated its 22nd anniversary while hosting the Heat Pump Forum, a hybrid event where the heat pump industry joined forces with the policy-makers to discuss a Heat Pump Accelerator to support the common objectives of the industry in the context of REPowerEU.
Participants from across Europe joined the annual Heat Pump Forum on the 28th of September in Brussels, at a major turning point for the sector. Heat pump technologies are now recognised as critical to getting off fossil fuels, fighting climate change and boosting energy security, and the sector is looking at record growth. It is crucial that the right conditions are assured by policy-makers to enable European heat pump manufacturing and deployment to stay ahead in the global competition game, speed up even more, and deliver on the EU’s climate and energy goals, attendees heard. European Commission Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Kerstin Jorna, addressed these points in her keynote speech: “The European heat pump industry is a well-established market leader on the global stage. It plays an essential role in decarbonising heating for households and other end-users. Together, we must strengthen the industry’s position and make sure that consumers benefit from energy savings and reduce their use of fossil gas in buildings. We need to further encourage innovation, facilitate access to adequate skills, from building to installing heat pumps; the single market framework must support this.”
Forum attendees, who range from policy-makers, researchers and utility representatives to engineers and manufacturers, discussed the path to the EU’s REPowerEU targets, which would see 60 million more heat pumps connected in the EU by 2030. They were invited by the European Heat Pump Association, the Forum organisers, to co-create an EU heat pump ‘accelerator’ – a multi-stakeholder action agenda to speed up heat pump manufacturing and deployment for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The accelerator should focus on five areas: policy certainty, affordability, market conditions, skills and training, and R&D.
Thomas Nowak, Secretary General of the European Heat Pump Association commented: “Every year the Heat Pump Forum gets bigger and better – a perfect reflection of the sector it serves as a flagship event. In 2022 we have a serious message: this green technology is growing fast, but needs to be turbo-charged if we are to get off fossil gas in time to ensure supply security and tackle climate change. The industry can do a lot, but we cannot do it alone. It needs all hands on deck and a high level involvement of the EU and national governments to deliver a future-proof, sustainable energy system!” Philipp Pausder, Founder and CEO, Thermondo GmbH commented: “With every heat pump, households can save cash and carbon and Europe becomes more independent from fossil gas. Hence, we must scale heat pump installations across Europe. All players should unite behind this common goal and co-create solutions to overcome skilled labour shortage and global supply chain issues. The time to act is now.” Sessions covered a range of topics alongside the accelerator, from making heat pumps affordable for all to their use in industry.
