• Solar thermal panels
• Heat pumps ( air source, ground source or water source), and
• Biomass boilers

The amount received as part of the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme depends on which technology you are applying for. The voucher values for each of the technologies is listed below:

Who can apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment?

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you are eligible to apply for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment.

No matter how you currently heat your home and how much fuel you already use, anyone can apply for the solar thermal panel funding. However, if you currently rely on oil, liquid gas, solid fuel or electricity then you could also apply for air, ground - or water - source heat pumps and biomass boilers.

So only those who do not currently use gas as their main heating fuel can apply for these technologies.

If you have any further questions about whether you can apply, please feel free to give one of our friendly advisors a call on: 0800 512 012.

What do you have to do before applying?

• The property must be owned by you or if you are a tenant you must be purchasing the system yourself and have permission from the owner of the property
• Property must have loft insulation to 250mm and cavity wall insulation (where practical)
• You should have all necessary planning and environmental permissions in place
• Getting your home insulated is actually really easy and relatively cheap, so if you don’t already have a fully insulated house, check our Grants and Offers Database for cheap insulation offers or even grants!

The product and installer you go with must be certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS), Solar Keymark (or equivalent). Finally, not only is the scheme a great excuse to install technologies that will dramatically reduce your energy costs at home but the Government are also keen to learn as much as possible about renewable technologies. And for that they need your feedback.

As a requirement for the Renewable Heat Premium Payment you will be asked to submit information about how the technology you have installed is performing in its environment and you might be selected to have some monitoring equipment installed at the same time as your technology.

How to apply?

If you’ve read the above carefully and you feel satisfied that you are eligible to apply for a Renewable Heat Premium Payment, you can

Apply for the scheme now >

What next?

If you meet all the criteria you will receive a voucher (time-scale dependent on the technology you are installing) and you will need to sign and return the voucher with a copy of the invoice from your installer and certificate from the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (or equivalent) once you have installed your technology.

When everything has been checked and signed - you will receive the money directly into your bank account.

Other considerations:

• No vouchers will be valid beyond 31st March 2012 and the expiry date on your voucher may be earlier than this
• The offer is cash limiting. Once the budget for the scheme is reached (and there is a review point at £10m), there will be no more RHPP.

Final checklist:

• Checking the technology is suitable for your home. Try our Home Energy Generation Selector tool which will identify the most suitable technologies for your home
• Ensuring you have all the basic energy efficient measures installed in your home (cavity and loft installation)
• Investigating all the various renewable technologies on offer and calling our advice line on: 0800 512 012 for more advice and information
• Try getting a minimum of three quotes from MCS certified installers (or equivalent)
• Checking planning permission (particularly for Air Source Heat Pumps)

Reference http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Geothermal industry body goes live with new web resource portal for industry

London – May 23rd 2011 – The European Ground Source Heat Pump Association (EGSHPA), an independent industry body established to support the interests of the geothermal industry, has this week gone live with its new web portal and online ‘magazine’ offering.

Heavily focused on the technology and engineering issues that concern ground source heat pumps, www.egshpa.com will serve to engage the community with informative data as well as thought-provoking discussion and opinion. Members of EGSHPA itself will use the new portal to encourage non-members to engage in proactive discussions.

This engaging resource has videos to help explain the processes that are currently driving the industry. There are online tools for user energy cost calculations, as well as case studies and articles to help grow the user’s knowledge base.

“EHSHPA’s new web portal is the result of a combination of efforts to coalesce proven information resources that we know to be useful to geothermal industry players of all shapes and sizes,” said Dale Holdback, EGSHPA President.

“Not only do we want to engage with the community at large, we also seek to uncover and analyse specific information streams in this new and still-nascent sector of the global energy and utilities industry. Essentially, we are here to uncover truths, misconceptions and hard economic and ecological realities.”

EGSHPA describes its new portal and corresponding website pages as a ‘business tool’, dedicated to helping professionals and delivering up to date news and training to further their knowledge and business connections.

The portal’s core proposition is its ability to facilitate interactivity and intercommunication between its members, so that experts and other interested parties can share thoughts and information on energy-related topics.

“As the way we communicate changes with advances in technology and the industry itself grows, it is our goal to keep our members connected, active and informed,” said EGSHPA’s Holdback.

To learn more, share opinions and make your voice heard, visit www.egshpa.com

To join or have work published please email, membership@egshpa.com

The association will provide training and geothermal research information. With its access to the most current advancements in the geothermal industry, EGSHPA is the ideal bridge between the latest technology and the people who benefit from these developments.

The association aims to provide technical and industry specific news in all EU states, in order to overcome chalenges faced by the industry in the development of GSHP for cooling and heating applications.

The EGSHPA web site is a business tool dedicated to helping professionals, and delivering up to date news and training to further their knowledge and business connections. Registered members can talk with trusted professionals in the business, to help them operate more effectively within their day to day business, putting them in touch with issues that affect the industry and updating them on the latest trends across the whole sector of renewable energy and green issue. The site will allow members to establish new business relationships, industry, or professional and other relevant groups, plus interface with consumers and potential clients.

Whether you’re looking for a career opportunity, winning new clients or building your professional reputation,  and expanding your knowledge base, the site will connect you and lift your profile to ideal business partners making it the place to turn for new opportunities, and  resolve a unique business challenge.

Some of the key benefits to members are the following:

• Talk with fellow professionals and potential clients.
• Increase your knowledge base.
• One stop point for all industry news.
• Discounts to members on products.
• Company and individuial use of EGSHPA logo.
• Receive monthly news letter, with information and news specific to this platform.
• Ask Industry experts for help and advice on the forum.
• Share information and your business services.
• Use tools online tools (coming soon).
• Member discounts on conferences and seminars for all company employees.
• Advertising opportunities in EGSHPA publications and website.
• Discounts on exhibiting at EGSHPA conferences.

For further information visit www.egshpa.com

Key data for the year 2009:
Renewable energy share of gross final energy consumption in EU-27: 11.6%
Renewable energy share in total electricity consumption in EU-27: 18.2%
Renewable energy employment in EU-27: 912 thousand jobs
Renewable energy turnover in EU-27: 120 billion euro

EurObserv’ER is the first in disclosing an estimate for the renewable energy share of gross final energy consumption in 2009, calculated at 11.6% compared to 10.4% in 2008. This increase of 1.2 percentage points results in a renewable energy consumption contribution of 131.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2009 (up 6.3 Mtoe) of a total of 1,136.4 Mtoe in real terms. One important element of this result is that over half the growth in the share observed in 2009, despite impressive growth in some renewable sectors, cannot be attributed to the rise in renewably-sourced final energy consumption alone (EurObserv’ER data) but instead stems from the plunge in total gross final energy consumption based on the drop in gross inland energy consumption.

In Europe, about 40% of the primary energy use relates to the building sector, while 80% of the energy demand in houses and utility buildings relates to space heating and hot water generation.

Heat pump potential lies in “small scale” renovations

With the annual replacement of the existing building stock with new built constructions being very low, the renovation of the existing building stock presents the largest potential for energy saving and renewable technologies such as heat pumps.

This is especially true given that for privately owned buildings the main renovation measures that take place hardly ever go as far as demolishing and rebuilding or completely renovating the interior while keeping the main skeleton. Indeed, in privately owned buildings the main renovation measures lie in the replacement of the existing heating boiler at the end of its life time or at best in the large scale replacement and renovation of the energy system with small renovation on the envelope.

The challenge for retrofitting with renewable energies systems such as heat pumps hence lies in this area of “small scale” types of renovation.

Existing buildings require high distribution temperatures that CO₂ can deliver

The present market for heating-only heat pumps with water distribution systems (hydronic systems) is dominated by heat pumps with low temperature distribution systems. However, conventional radiator systems, which still dominate in the existing building stock, require high distribution temperatures, typically 60 - 90°C for the supply, as opposed to today’s modern low temperature systems (e.g. floor or wall heating) that are designed for 35/28 °C supply/return temperatures.

The main technological barrier for retrofitting with heat pumps noted in the International Energy Agency (IEA) study, is the limited availability of heat pump technology fit for retrofitting existing buildings and finding solutions for coping with the high design temperature of conventional heating systems in existing residential buildings with distribution temperatures up to 70 - 90°C.

Economic competitive and energy-efficient heat pumps for the retrofit of high temperature heating systems in existing buildings are still in the development stage. The aim is mainly directed to economic ground-coupled and air-to-water systems with around 60 °C heating temperature and high COP. Possible solutions are CO₂ as working fluid, multi-cycle systems or speed regulated compressors.

Heating & cooling air-to-air heat pumps of growing interest for retrofits in S. Europe

“Heating and cooling air-to-air heat pumps, the most common types in residential applications in the mature heat pump markets of Japan and the USA, are of increasing interest for the retrofit market in Europe, especially in the southern parts of the region. The air is either passed directly into a room by the space-conditioning unit or distributed through a forced-air ducted system. The output temperature of an air distribution system is usually in the range of 30-50°C”.

CO₂ research in Europe

The report provides an overview of the CO₂ heat pump research conducted in different European countries:

Austria

• CO₂ heat pump for combined space heating and tap water production (Arsenal Research)
• Ground coupled horizontal CO₂-loop with forced circulation as a heat source for heat pumps (Arsenal research)

Germany

• CO₂ heat pump with ejector (Stiebel Eltron)
• CO₂ domestic hot water heat pump (Stiebel Eltron - CH)
• CO₂ compressor (University Braunschweig)
• CO₂ retrofit heat pump with high energy- efficiency and an eco-friendly refrigerant (R&D project from Viessmann)
• CO₂ heat pipe as earth probe for geothermal heat pumps (FKW)
• Investigating a 250m deep FKW-CO₂-earth heat pipe for providing earth heat to an old existing building from only one individual deep borehole (EIfER, European Institute for Energy Research in Karlsruhe)

Norway

• Trans-critical CO₂ heat pumping systems for space heating (SINTEF Energy Research) 

Conducted by the Energy Saving Trust, one of the UK’s leading organisations set up to mitigate the effects of climate change, the field trial considered both technical parameters, such as system sizing and installation, as well as customer feedback and behaviour.

The findings show the heat pump performance to be highly dependent upon appropriate installation and integration with the building’s existing heating system, as well as appropriate control by the customer. As a result, the Energy Saving Trust is calling on industry to improve heat pump installation techniques to ensure they become a quality and mainstream technology for householders.

Results regarding overall system efficiencyThe participating installations included 54 ground source and 29 air source heat pumps that were monitored for a full 12 month period. Overall, a number of heat pump installations performed very well, achieving an overall system efficiency (the amount of heat the heat pump produces compared to the amount of electricity needed to run the entire heating system, including domestic hot water, supplementary heating, and pumps) rating of three and above.

By type of heat pumps the trial found:

• Ground source heat pumps: The ‘mid-range’ of measured system efficiencies was between 2.3 and 2.5, with the highest figures reaching over 3.0. However, efficiencies were lower than those monitored in similar European field trials.

• Air source heat pumps: The ‘mid-range’ of measured system efficiencies was near 2.2 and the highest figures in excess of 3.0.

Conclusions and recommendations

Conclusions and recommendations from the first year of the trial include:

• Heat pumps are sensitive to design, commissioning and use. The field trial covered a variety of early installations, many of which failed to correctly design and/or install the heat pump. This result emphasises the need for improved training for installers.

• Keep it simple. There were many system configurations monitored in the field trial. In most cases, the simplest designed systems performed with higher efficiencies.

• The impact of domestic hot water production on system performance is unclear. Heat pumps can be designed to provide domestic hot water at appropriate temperatures, but more investigation is needed to determine the factors which have an impact on system efficiency.

• Heating controls for heat pump installations have to be comprehensively reviewed. There has been a failure to explain proper control requirements to both installers and heat pump customers.

• Responsibility for the installation should be with one company, and ideally be contractually guaranteed to ensure consistency in after-sales service.

• Further study needs to be undertaken on an installation-by-installation basis, to record what has been done wrongly (or correctly), what could be done better, and what exactly should be done in the future.

Next steps

The trial will continue for another year to enable further investigation into the factors that influence heat pump performance.

The Energy Saving Trust will also be doing work with trade bodies, heat pump manufacturers, the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme to identify improvements to heat pump installation guidelines and installer training.

Produced in cooperation with two Spanish companies (Termoterra and IFTec Geoenergia), this project aims to reuse through a heat pump system energy produced by the trains and its users to heat and cool the docks, offices and commercial spaces of Pacifico station of the Madrid underground system.

Invariably the ground station Pacifico produces heat, resulting from the operation of trains and their braking systems or simply users or the lighting system. Some of this heat is absorbed into the basement, which is naturally raises the ambient temperature and requires cooling of certain areas to maintain a constant temperature, resulting in unnecessary additional expenditure of energy.

To maximize the efficiency of the site, at Pacifico station has been established a system of geothermal heat pumps that can use energy from ground source heat in winter, and as a system to cool the air in summer.

To carry out effectively the exchange of heat, the heat pump is connected to the ground with 32 U-shaped pipes of high density polyethylene, buried about 145 meters below and filled with water without additives.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the project, Sensus has installed eight PolluStat EX heat meters and a PolluTherm flow ultrasonic sensor, which test three heat pumps connected to the pipes in the ground and the secondary heat pump, which provides the cooling power when needed. All these systems have been equipped with the communication module M-Bus for remote reading and recording data in a computer using the software CS Dokom.

The geothermal pump system (GSHP) of Pacifico metro station will have a maximum power of 120 kilowatts to 20 kilowatts for heating and air conditioning. The annual demand is 130 MWh (cooling) and 20.5 MWh (heating).

There are some other projects of this kind in Europe, the most advanced is the Vienna underground. London South Bank University is also studying the feasibility of this project in the London Underground, while the City of New York abandoned the project of the kind.

Photo: The prize was presented by the Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr Mauri Pekkarinen, and it was accepted by Mr Jussi Hirvonen, Chair of the Finnish Heat Pump Association and Mr Petri Koivula, Managing Director

One Million Heat Pumps in a Decade

The EU requirement for increasing the use of renewable energy is challenging for Finland – a country that already at present is one of the leading countries in its use. With the optimal use of heat pumps, we should, however, be able to reach as much as a third of the 30 TWh annual increase target. I believe that one million heat pumps will be installed in Finland within the next ten years, Mr Hirvonen estimates.

 The Prize Jury’s Statement

Project description

This residence was built in 2003. It has 28 dwellings distributed over 4 buildings, two with two storeys and two with three storeys. The heated area is of 1. 771 m². It is located in Besançon in the east centre of France, in a relatively cold climate.

The insulation is good and the buildings have been awarded with a high energy performance labelling. The heating need is of 74,0 kWh/m²/year.

The heating and cooling system uses two identical non reversible heat pumps with a heating capacity of 32,6 kW each. Each heat pump is connected to 5 borehole heat exchangers with a depth of 100 m and a diameter of 32 mm.

The cooling needs are fulfilled in free cooling mode.

The hot tap water is provided by a collective system using thermal solar panels in addition with electric water heaters.

The distribution for heating and cooling is made through thermal floor for each storey. The supply water temperature in the thermal floors is 30°C for heating and 18°C for cooling.

Heat pump system

The heat pumps are brine-to-water machines with compressor driven by electricity. Each one is using five 100m-deep borehole heat exchangers as heat source.

An additional heating resistor of 15,0 kW is also available in case of very cold outdoor temperature. Since 2003, it has been used only during 8 hours in 2005.

The heating capacity of each heat pump is 32.6 kW. The nominal electric power is 7,2 kW, fed in three-phases.

The nominal operating mode is 35°C (condenser output) and 0°C (evaporator input). The maximum temperature output at the condenser is 55°C.

Each heat pump is loaded with 6,8 kg of R407C refrigerant.

The cooling is made in free cooling mode, without the heat pumps. The cold water from the borehole heat exchangers is used in the heating/cooling floors through an intermediate heat exchanger.

The hot tap water is produced through 52 m² of solar collectors in addition with 24,0 kW of electric water heaters.
Operation experiences 

The measurement campaign was made during the complete year 2006. It was funded both by eDF and ADEME during a campaign intended to monitor the performance of ground coupled heat pumps in real conditions.

The heating system was stopped from June 8th, 2006 to October 4th, 2006. During this period, the cooling system was turned on but operated really only between July 20th and July 31st, 2006, during the hottest days of the summer.

One heat pump operated during 1.577 hours (compressor and circulator running time) and the other during 2.286 hours.

No operational problems were experienced.

Costs, economic efficiency, incentives

The operating cost can be estimated at 3,3 €/heated m² during year 2006 (based on an average electricity cost of 13 c€/kWh, excluding yearly subscription costs).

Regulations, guidelines, benchmarking

No information available

References
No information available

¹ Measured during January 2006 to December 2006
² 2 x 32,6 kWth
³ Appliance alone
⁴ Heat pump only, including all pumps and auxiliary systems SPF=2,72
⁵ Only indirect emissions (thus excluding possible refrigerant leaks) due to electricity consumption both for the heat pumps and the auxiliary systems. Measured during year 2006.

Type of building:
Existing university building, to be renovated, comprising seminar rooms, laboratories, offices, and a workshop

Purpose:
Heating, cooling and domestic hot water (heating load: 150 kW)

System replaced:
Geothermal heating system (back-up)

Heat pump system:
Ground source heat pump (80 kW) with vertical borehole heat exchangers

Distribution system:
Wall heating system, fan coils

More infirmation:

Fact sheet: under preparation

Reference http://www.groundmed.eu/