Samsung and the city of Oxford in the UK have announced the trial of a neighborhood heat pump scheme in Rose Hill, Oxford. The project aims to connect communities to local installers, helping to remove key barriers to heat pump uptake, including cost. Up to 150 Samsung air-source heat pumps will be installed at a reduced price of GBP 2,600 ($3,185) each.
A consortium including South Korea-based Samsung, Oxford City Council, University of Oxford, and Oxford-based heat pump installer Alto Energy has been awarded GBP 3.2 million to install around 150 air-source heat pumps in homes across Rose Hill, Oxford. The funding for the ‘Clean Heat Streets’ project was allocated through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), part of the UK government’s “Heat Pump Ready” program.
“The two Samsung air source heat pumps being offered to residents are the Samsung EHS Monobloc and the Samsung EHS HT Quiet,” a Samsung spokesperson told pv magazine. The EHS Monobloc has a heating and cooling capacity of 5 kW and a coefficient of performance (COP) of 4.85 at 35 C, and 2.83 at 55 C. The EHS HT Quiet has a heating and cooling capacity ranging from 8 kW to 14 kW, and a coefficient of performance ranging from 5 to 5.05 at 35 C. Both solutions use R32 as the refrigerant.
“The selection of the heat pump for each house will follow the usual process of heat loss calculation, specification, and design to ensure that the correct heat pump output is chosen for each house. Alto Energy, the installer partner on this project, will work to ensure this,” said the Samsung spokesperson.
The Clean Heat Streets project will explore whether heat pump installations would be quicker, cheaper, and easier for both suppliers and residents when installed on a street-by-street basis. It will also test how a large number of heat pumps can be installed within a particular area without causing very high peaks in demand for electricity on winter evenings, for example. The heat pumps will be connected to two electrical substations in Rose Hill, at Courtland Road and Fiennes Road.
“The innovative project ultimately aims to create a more streamlined approach to installations through establishing a network of skilled installers, as well as saving time, money, and resources – all of which are key barriers when trying to install heat pump technology,” Oxford City Council said in a statement.
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According to the council, a heat pump installation can cost between GBP 7,000 and GBP 13,000. The project will lower the cost of the cheapest heat pump to approximately GBP 2,600, the council said, adding that owned, private-rented, and social housing will all be targeted.
The ‘Clean Heat Streets’ project builds on the work of a six-month feasibility study that developed an energy mapping approach to identify suitable homes for installing heat pumps and explored the key barriers to heat pump uptake in Rose Hill. It is looking for households from around the Rose Hill area to participate in the project. More information can be found here.
Oxford Brookes University, Oxfordshire County Council, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), GenGame, and Passiv UK are also part of the consortium.
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Source: pv magazine
