Europe’s ‘heat pump valley’ takes root in the East

(EurActiv, 1 Jun 2023) A global race has started to manufacture the millions of heat pumps needed to decarbonise heating, with Asian and East European countries taking a head start.

Nearly all heating in Europe must be climate-friendly by 2050 in order to reach the EU’s net-zero objective – and heat pumps are increasingly viewed as the main way of achieving this.

“As far as I can see, heat pumps are seeing a major takeoff now,” said Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who presented a special report on the future of heat pumps last year.

The EU wants an extra 10 million units installed by 2027 in order to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. The industry is booming, with world powers battling for a market share in one of the key future clean markets.

“It is a very important moment for the heat pump industry and for the governments in Europe, North America, Asia and beyond,” said Birol.

For the traditional European heating sector, which employs almost two million people across the value chain from production to installation, this decade marks a tectonic shift.

In 2021, the heat pump value chain employed 117,000 people, with around 37% (44,000) working in manufacturing, according to a recent report by the European Commission. This value chain manufactures around 73% of the EU’s current heat pump needs.

European policymakers welcome this trend. After all, heat pumps are one of five future clean-tech markets – alongside solar, wind, batteries, and electrolysers – where Europe has a comparatively large market share.

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EurActiv, 1 Jun 2023: Europe’s ‘heat pump valley’ takes root in the East