Grundfos – The use of heat pumps in Europe and in Denmark

Grundfos, is one of the silver sponsors of Decarb Cities Forum.

Mr. Klaus K.D. Kattenhøj, Managing Director of Grundfos, shares his opinion on the decarbonisation of cities. 

The challenges for the decarbonisation of cities is an interesting topic.
I see more eminent challenges and solutions, as far as heat pumps are concerned.
Denmark has finally started to move on heat pump sales, despite the highest contents in our grid of variable energy in the EU. In 2017, the sales of air-water heat pumps increased by 60% to more than 6.000 sales, and for air-air heat pumps, the sales increased at the same rate, reaching 36.000. While installing air-air heat pumps is a more cost-effective solution for summer cottages, installing air-water and water-water heat pumps is a more cost-effective solution for regular houses. Denmark still has 500.000 oil boilers, which need to be replaced and this is, for me, the most obvious challenge and solution for heat pumps.
The production of variable energy more and more off-shore, in the North Sea, in combination with the geographical position of the existing oil boilers needing replacement, as well as in combination with the fact that home owners need the right replacement at the right price, make heat pumps the right solution for the TSIs. Currently biomass stoves/boilers are being installed as a replacement with biomass, transported from the other side of the planet. The electricity, however, is being produced just outside these houses’ windows and the grid needs to decarb heat by producing heat in periods, where the electricity consumption is normally on a low level. This is not applicable in 2030 or in 2050. This future is now, in 2018.

For cities, heat pumps are today, primarily, a solution for new buildings. With a very low new build rate in Europe, solutions must be found by manufacturers, to obtain the desired heating level, or the use of heat pumps must be combined with other heat sources.
Both from the rural and the cities’ perspective, heat pumps must become digitally connected, so that they are in use, when there is excessive variable energy on the grid. For this to be achieved, GRUNDFOS Direct Sensors™ supplies sensors and meters for Dt management, according to the heat meter standards, to obtain a higher efficiency of the use of heat pumps, and a flow rate as well, in order to make the heat meter calculation between hybrid heat sources and thereby, green energy, bankable.

#DecarbCities is a conference organised  by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA)

Rue d’Arlon 63 – 67, B-1040 Brussels – Belgium

T: +32 2 400 10 17 | F: +32 2 400 10 18

E: info@ehpa.org