‘Hybrid Heating Europe’ launched a new vision paper on the benefits from hybrid heating solutions in a webinar
Hybrid Heating Europe is a coalition of twelve companies: BDR Thermea, Bosch Thermotechnology, Danish Gas Technology Centre, ENPULS, E.On, EWE NETZ, GRDF, Groupe Atlantic, GRTgaz, Gasunie, Stedin and Viessmann, supported by Guidehouse.
The coalition claims that hybrid heating solution are a ‘no regret option’, for the following reasons:
Consumer benefits:
- The investment in a hybrid heating system can be relatively modest. Consumers with a high-performing boiler can reduce their investments by simply adding a small heat pump and a control system.
- Hybrid systems require no immediate (deep) renovation measures. Consumers can install a hybrid system when it is convenient for them, for example when they need to replace their existing boiler. Hybrid heat solutions are largely applicable over various building types, energy labels and areas where the grid does not (yet) have sufficient capacity.
- The consumer’s energy bill can be reduced significantly with smart controls because of the high efficiency of the heat pump and the ability to switch to the lowest cost energy vector (gas or electricity) at any time.
- Easy installation, less disruption and wider applicability. Existing radiators can be retained if required, which reduces the cost and disruption of moving to a hybrid heating system. Hybrid heat systems are designed to connect straight into legacy heating systems, delivering like for like performance and maintaining comfort levels in buildings. The combination of applicability in less well-insulated, typically older buildings and the flexibility that hybrid systems provide in spreading out the cost of renovation measures is especially important in tackling energy poverty.
Energy system benefits:
- Peak power demand reduction: Hybrid systems have limited peak power demand, avoiding the need for heavy electric infrastructure just to cope with infrequent cold spells. Peak power demand can be as much as 5 times lower compared to all-electric systems. They also lower power outage risk.
- Finally, they use existing gas infrastructure, preventing more expensive rollout of new district heating systems in areas with a lower building density. The costs of operating and maintaining the existing gas grid are generally low. As long as other buildings and applications in a distribution grid still need the gas grid, the marginal cost of operating and maintaining it for a building in that area is very low.
- Heating technology costs in the range of €5-47 billion per year could be saved. On top of this, insulation costs of up to €21 billion per year could be avoided in the optimal case, and energy infrastructure costs in the range of €10-17 billion per year.
Climate benefits:
- Real emissions reduction from day one: Compared to alternative, low-carbon systems such as all-electric or district heating, hybrid systems can be more widely adopted and scaled sooner. Hybrid systems can be installed in as little as a single day and can be deployed in low-density areas where district heating is not a viable option. All-electric heat pumps can also be installed quickly, but if too many are installed in a single street, the electricity grid will not be able to accommodate the increased demand and additional time will be required to upgrade the grid.
- Accelerated carbon reductions in the next decade: Where a building must be renovated to make all-electric solutions feasible, more time and up-front investment will be required compared to hybrid solutions. This will lead to delayed investments and thus delayed emission reductions. In other words, hybrid systems help deploy heat pumps faster.
Recommendations:
- Establish hybrid systems as a dedicated product category in Ecodesign and Energy Labelling policies.
- Introduce EU-wide targets for the production and distribution of low-carbon gases.
- Recognise renewable gas-ready hybrids as green technologies in the different national incentive schemes.
Their swanky infographic:
