HEAT NETWORKS, BATTERY STORAGE, RENEWABLES SPECIAL FEATURES This month: Electrification of off-gas community; solar energy in heat networks No home unsuitable for a heat pump, claims study Pilot project reports successful installations in Victorian properties Heat pumps can be tted in all types of homes, according to a study commissioned by the government. As part of the Electrication of Heat demonstration project, funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), 750 heat pumps were installed in homes across the south of Scotland, Newcastle, and southeast England. The project showed that heat pumps could be installed in homes of different styles and across the age spectrum, from Victorian mid-terraces to 1960s blocks of ats. The project has not identied any particular type or age of property that cannot have a successful heat pump installation, the study s report said. The suggestion that there are particular home archetypes in Britain that are unsuitable for heat pumps is not supported by project experience and data. Energy and clean growth minister Lord Callahan said the trial had shown that low carbon heating could be effective in all types and age of home, and added: As technology continues to improve and costs plummet over the next decade, they will become the obvious, affordable choice for consumers. Older and more modern homes were included in the project For the trial, different heat pump types were installed between July 2020 and October 2021, including low- and hightemperature air source models, ground source heat pumps, and hybrid systems, where the heat pump worked in tandem with a gas boiler. The trial did acknowledge the additional challenges associated with installations in older homes, but said these were manageable, with 163 properties built before 1945 included in the trial. There will be more reports based on the demonstration project in the coming months. Backing for heat battery pilot Caldera has secured a 470,000 grant from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to roll out its heat batteries to 12 pilot homes in the south of England. The rm has developed a domestic-scale heat battery, Warmstone, that stores heat energy using low-cost, renewable, off-peak electricity. It performs like a gas boiler releasing heat when required to power a homes heating and hot water but is zero carbon and requires no home-efciency retrot to work. According to the rm, the technology is suitable for more than a million hard-to-heat UK homes that are off the gas grid and reliant on oil or liqueed petroleum gas. Off-grid homes are among the highest polluting in the country; they constitute 4% of the UK s housing stock , yet generate 11% of its carbon emissions from residential heating. They are hard to decarbonise because they tend to be larger, older homes, which are expensive to insulate sufciently to accommodate alternative technologies, such as a heat pump. Rollout of the project, which was due to be completed by Christmas, is being supported by the BEIS Energy Entrepreneurs Fund. Getting ready for heat network regulation Consumer protection scheme Heat Trust is helping Ofgem prepare for imminent regulation of heat networks by taking a senior ofcer from the regulator on a 12-month secondment grant funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Ofgem veteran Richard Bellingham, who was head of compliance, responsible for understanding retail supplier activity and how it impacts consumer outcomes, has now joined Heat Trust as head of compliance and audit. The government plans to introduce statutory regulation of heat networks in the next few years, including consumer protections, pricing rules, minimum technical standards, and requirements for heat networks to decarbonise. Mitsubishi Electric launches heat pump for ambient networks Mitsubishi Electric has released a water-towater heat pump for the multi-residential market. Ecodan Hydrodan units operate with low-GWP refrigerant, and can be installed in individual apartments to deliver domestic hot water, using an integrated storage tank, and low-temperature hot water for heating. They connect to an ultra-low temperature, fth-generation ambient heat network, which has typical temperatures of 10-30C. This means multiple water source heat pumps can use the network as a heat source or heat sink, depending on the demand for heating or cooling. The advantage of this is that the network can be an energy store, using rejected energy from cooling plant to heat hot water in homes. Each packaged unit offers a capacity range of 1.17.5kW, with ow temperatures of up to 60C. The 170-litre integrated tank has variable pressure independent control valve loop control, which allows the ow into the unit to change independently of the pressure in the system. www.cibsejournal.com January 2022 35 CIBSE Jan 22 pp35 Specials News.indd 35 23/12/2021 12:51