Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA) y SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS will lead the Spanish pilot region of the European project HP4ALL (Heat pumps for all), an initiative under the European Union research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, for 30 months. The objective of HP4ALL is to enhance the necessary skills for the development of high-quality optimized heat pump installations that will provide energy efficiency improvements in residential and non-residential buildings, leading Europe to the forefront of the climatisation sector.
To achieve this purpose, the project will develop the HP4All package, a set of tools and resources intended for different stakeholders. The package will include a Heat Pump skills framework to facilitate common heat pump capabilities and, from the end user perspective, a Heat Pump Digital Knowledge Center will also be created to provide guidance and support.
HP4All will validate this package across three pilot regions in Austria, Ireland, and Spain with the aim of driving market change, influencing end-user decisions and planning new innovations. The implementation plans will be informed by extensive stakeholder engagement to map current and future barriers to HP market exploitation and skills development. Leading experts in the HP and energy sectors will support the regional actors to prepare the market for new innovations related to HP technology, procurement, and contracting services.
Moreover, the impact of the project will be maximised through the role of three observer countries (Croatia, Portugal and Romania), as they will follow closely the development and validation of the HP4All package, being early adopters even before the project ends. Replication activities will include a train-the-trainer workshop, a roadmap and pan-European events for policymakers and public bodies.
The main responsibilities of SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS in this project are to define and implement the communication strategy (development of the corporate image, website, social media strategy, etc.), coordinate the dissemination of HP4ALL and support the implementation of the abilities in heat pumps in Spain.
“With HP4ALL we add a new initiative to our portfolio of energy efficiency projects, which places us at the forefront of this type of programs in Spain”, states Jesús Serrano, Deputy General Manager of SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS. “In addition, we are delighted to collaborate again with CTA, with whom we have previously worked on energy efficiency and bioeconomy projects.”
CTA is the company responsible for the management of the Spanish pilot region, and they lead the work package regarding the model replication in the rest of Europe, through the analysis of European policies and the development of a roadmap for the successful implementation of the model.
“Energy and environment is one of the seven strategic areas for CTA due to its importance in the Spanish and Andalusian industry. At CTA, we participate in different European initiatives to promote energy efficiency and, additionally, this is one of the most active in requesting our incentives for R&D projects”, highlights Rocío de la Rosa, Business Development Consultant at CTA.
Heat pumps, a growing sector with broad sustainable potential
In 2017, 1.1 million units of heat pumps were sold (a 13.1% increase over the previous year). European markets indicate that this growth has continued and accelerated in 2018. From this perspective, it is very likely that, by 2024, the number of units installed will have doubled. These figures represent a challenge for the industry in the preparation of the value chain, from R + D + I or production, to the design and installation of a much larger number of units to be handled annually.
Therefore, there is an urgent need for public and private investment in the development, maintenance and improvement of the stakeholder’s knowledge and experience in this sector. With such investments, the industry will not only train tens of thousands of workers and create highly skilled jobs, but it will also lead sustainable growth by introducing better and more efficient heat pumps, getting ready to decarbonize the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Cooling (HVAC) sector by 2050.
About HP4ALL
Led by the Limerick Institute of Technology, HP4ALL is formed by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), the International Energy Research Center (IERC), Technological Corporation of Andalusia (CTA), Energiesparverband, RINA Consulting and SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS.
The project has received almost 1 million euros funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 891775. 152,000 euros have been awarded to CTA, while SUSTAINABLE INNOVATIONS will be provided with 126,000.
