BRUSSELS, Belgium, 18 November 2021: “Ambitious investments in production capacity and R&D will allow Daikin Europe to expand market and product leadership,” said Patrick Crombez, General Manager, Heating and Renewables, Daikin Europe.

Daikin said it sees an inflection point in the European hydronic heat pump market, with growth rates anticipated to increase from 10% CAGR to 20% CAGR. This will lead to annual heat pump installations of four million by 2030, up from 1 million in 2021, it said.

The company said it is responding by investing in production and innovation capacity, warehousing and logistics and increased training for installers and service technicians across the EMEA region. Crombez said: “Switching our heating systems to heat pumps represents a historical transformation to low-carbon heating, with benefits for climate change but also healthier living environments. We are proud to lead this transformation in Europe.”

Daikin said its business unit, ‘Heating & Renewables’ is growing fast and is outperforming the European heat pump category growth. 

In the coming years, Daikin – in line with other industry experts – anticipates a sharp acceleration in heat pump adoption. By 2030, it expects four million heat pumps will be installed each year, representing an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%. “For us, 2021 has been a turning point for heat pumps,” Crombez said. “Consumers and policy makers have never been more eager to decarbonize heating systems.”

At that point, one out of three heating systems installed will be a heat pump, up from one out of 10 in 2020, Daikin said. While this represents steep growth compared to recent years, the company considers this the minimum to ensure a move to a decarbonised residential heating market in Europe.

A key driver for heat pump growth has been the introduction of legislation governing new builds in many European countries, ranging from general regulations in France, such as RT2012, which sets a new minimum standard for thermal insulation of dwellings, to a ban on combustion boilers in The Netherlands, Daikin said. Additionally, incentives in France, Germany and Italy have successfully increased the appeal of heat pumps in the replacement- and renovation market, it added.

At the same time, heat pump technology has evolved to make heat pumps an attractive option: The arrival of ‘high temperature’ heat pumps means existing fossil fuel boilers can be replaced without the need to update or modify existing radiators, Daikin said.

In the coming years, Daikin said, it intends to more than triple its European heating production and expects its heating business to become one of the key pillars of its revenue by 2025.

Today, five of 14 Daikin’s EMEA factories are dedicated to heat pump production, it said. All its heat pumps sold in Europe, it added, are developed and produced in Europe, with main Daikin factories in Germany, Belgium and the Czech Republic.