Four to receive $85m in heat pump funding

USA: Manufacturers A O Smith, Daikin, Modine and Bitzer are set to share nearly $85m of funding to support the US production of heat pumps. 

The funding from the US Department of Energy builds on a successful first round of $169m announced in November last year and is designed to boost US manufacturing, reducing the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels, while creating clean energy jobs and lowering energy costs.

This latest round, which is still in negotiation, would benefit the manufacturing of electric heat pumps, heat pump hot water heaters, and heat pump components at five factories in New York, Tennessee, Texas, and Rhode Island.

If all goes according to plan, A O Smith of Tennessee will receive $25m to modernise its manufacturing facilities for the high-volume production of heat pump water heaters.

Daikin Comfort Technologies North America will receive $39m to retrofit its Texas facility to include both air-to-air and air-to-water technologies. New to the US market, Daikin’s air-to-water heat pump are recognised as an energy efficient alternative to traditional combustion boilers. 

Modine Manufacturing Company in Longview, Texas, will benefit from an award of $15.7m for the production of high performance industrial electric heat pumps. Modine will also deploy the new funds to upgrade its school heat pump manufacturing facility in Rhode Island. Like Daikin, the company also anticipates rising demand for electric air-to-water heat pumps.

The fourth recipient, Bitzer, has been earmarked $5m award to increase production capacity of 7.5 to 50 ton scroll compressors at its facility in New York. This will include a new assembly line and new CNC machining centres to produce the compressors, which are a key component in industrial heat pumps and chillers.

The fresh infusion of $85 million, announced this week, is expected to enable US manufacturers to kick out an additional 155,000 residential heat pumps above what they’re producing now.

The US Department of Energy expects the funding to produce an additional 2,000 heat pumps for schools along with 440,000 residential heat pump water heaters.

“The awards will also increase the number of compressors produced on US soil, which are typically manufactured overseas in Europe and Asia, making it easier for domestic manufacturers to use these key components in American-made heat pumps,” the Energy Department said.

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