Japanese industrial company Daikin Industries Ltd has signed a deal with the northern English city of Manchester to deploy heat pumps in some of its public buildings and act as a test bed for the technology, the company said.
Daikin — one of the world’s largest air-conditioning manufacturers — would provide heat pumps and cooling systems to public buildings including social housing in the city that would be monitored and tested remotely.
Demand for heat pumps — which rely on electricity to transfer heat — has been booming in Europe amid soaring natural gas prices, with consumers in many countries waiting months for heat pump installations.
Photo: REUTERS
Manchester, one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution, plans to become carbon neutral by 2038, 12 years ahead of the rest of the UK.
“Daikin’s aim is to demonstrate and promote technology to achieve carbon neutrality that can be deployed ... around the world,” Daikin Europe’s board chairman Masatsugu Minaka said.
“The two parties’ intentions were aligned and they recognized each other as the most suitable partners, leading to the conclusion of this agreement,” Minaka said.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said the partnership with Daikin symbolized the city’s industrial ambitions.
“Obviously with that ambition around 2038, we’re a place that’s going to move faster. In doing so, that presents opportunities to organizations like Daikin,” Burnham said.
Installations would take place over the next two years, the two sides said, without giving any further details.
Under the agreement, Daikin would also establish a training program in Manchester for heating and cooling system skills that are in short supply in the UK.
Manchester hopes its universities, known for their strength in science and engineering, would help spur foreign investment.
“Having access to that wealth of talent I think is a big attraction,” Deloitte partner and honorary consul of Japan in Manchester Jo Ahmed said.
Heat pumps, sometimes described as reverse air conditioners, use electricity to concentrate heat potential and are more energy efficient than gas boilers.
Daikin, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, last year said it would build a heat pump factory in Poland as part of its expansion plans.
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