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Centralised Heat Pump
Contents
- Impact
- Definition
- Constraints
- Assumptions
IMPACT – What are the impacts of Centralised Heat Pumps?
Energy system
Reduce final energy demand.
Increase total electricity consumption.
Reduce total heating oil and natural gas consumption.
Likely to raise pressure on the grid by increasing peak electricity demand.
Likely to increase energy independence by reducing fossil imports.
Environment & Climate
Very likely to reduce global CO2 emissions.
The refrigerants used in heat pumps often have high global warming potentials.
Society & Economy
Likely to increase the cost of the energy transition as it requires deployment of district heating networks and heat pump technologies.
May improve balance of payments by substituting domestic electricity for fossil imports.
May reduce Confederation income from the tax on mineral oil under the current taxation system.
DEFINITION / CONSTRAINTS
DEFINITION - What is a Centralised Heat Pump?
A heat pump is a device that draws heat from the environment and delivers it to a heated space at a higher temperature. The device is most usually driven using electricity but absorption heat pumps driven by a heat source are also available.
Heat pumps can draw heat from the outside air (air source) or using a heat transfer loop that draws heat from the ground (ground source) or a body of water (water source).
The air source heat pumps lose efficiency at low external temperature. In contrast, ground and water source heat pumps operate efficiently year round, because the temperature of the heat source remains more or less constant, but are more expensive to install.
Centralised heat pump plants would be coupled to a district heating network. Given their larger size and typically higher utilisation factor than small, decentralised heat pumps, a broader range of heat source options and plant configurations can be envisaged and the plants will typically achieve higher COPs.
CONSTRAINTS - What are the key barriers facing Centralised Heat Pumps deployment?
• Requires district heating infrastructure (network) which can be capital intensive to deploy, particularly as a retrofit.
• Currently low energy prices make the economics of such an integrated energy system quite challenging without significant policy drivers.
• District heating systems require higher operating water temperatures, which is not optimal for heat pumps.