The Energy Systems Catapult (ESC) has been appointed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to manage a £16.5 million heat pump trial on its behalf.
The Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project, which will run until March 2022, will see heat pumps installed in a representative sample of 750 homes across Great Britain in an effort to identify and overcome barriers to a mass rollout of the technology.
ESC said the heat pump market in Great Britain remains small, with few consumers choosing to switch to the technology.
It said currently only 20,000 homes convert to low-carbon heating each year – a figure that will need to rise to 1 million annually during the 2020s for the UK to fulfil its commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by the middle of the century.
ESC was chosen to manage the project in partnership with Delta-EE and Oxford Computer Consultants following a competitive tender, which launched in August. The delivery contractors it will coordinate have yet to be appointed.
The organisation previously managed the BEIS-funded Smart Systems and Heat project which sought to better understand consumers’ needs within the context of heat decarbonisation.
Meanwhile, the housing association Gentoo has revealed plans to replace the gas boilers in 364 homes spread across seven tower blocks in Sunderland with ground-source heat pumps.
An underground aquifer, accessed through boreholes drilled to a depth of 60 metres, will provide the heat source for the pumps.
The work, which will also include upgrading the blocks’ power suppliers and removing their gas connections, commenced last month and is due to completed by late summer 2020. It is being undertaken in partnership with Engie and heat pump specialist Kensa.
David Broom, commercial director at Kensa Contracting, said: “Electrification of heat with ground-source heat pumps not only makes buildings safer and cheaper to run, but also immediately reduces carbon emissions, and more importantly puts UK homes on the pathway to zero carbon as grid infrastructure is further decarbonised.”