Project description
Innovative gas heat pump stores energy in salt
Experts deem gas heat pumps to be a promising solution for tackling the carbon emissions associated with providing domestic hot water and keeping buildings warm. However, their high cost and large size have impeded their commercial roll-out so far. The EU-funded GasHeatPumpSaltX project plans to develop an efficient gas heat pump that can compete against condensing gas boilers. The project’s groundbreaking innovation is to use salt as a heat storage medium. The envisioned system is expected to increase energy efficiency by up to 40 % compared to gas boilers, saving households up to EUR 500 per year in natural gas expenses.
Objective
Swedish SaltX, a listed 5m EUR revenue company, has identified a growth opportunity in the 7m units/yr European domestic space heating appliance market to deploy its patent protected storage technology SaltX. Experts forecast fast traction for gas heat pumps (GHP) in this market over the next few years, mainly driven by more stringent regulation for energy efficiency. A Phase I feasibility study by Fraunhofer ISE, the highly respected GHP experts, confirmed that the SaltX’s TRL6 prototype is indeed the most energy efficient and low-cost solution among GHPs: SaltX-GHP will be the only GHP system that can compete with condensing gas boilers for some time, whilst the high cost and bulkiness of competitive GHPs restrict them to premium niche segments.
The final system will increase energy efficiency compared to gas boilers by up to 40%, saving households up to 500 EUR/year in natural gas expenses. The system will be priced at a 15-20% premium to condensing gas boilers, or 750 EUR a unit, at an attractive 1.5 years pay-back.
The efficiency advance is enabled by SaltX’s innovation that uses nano-coated salt + matrix as a heat storage medium – both are protected by patents. SaltX has already licensed this technology in the thermal solar and truck air-conditioning markets, booking early revenues of 5m EUR in 2016.
In this project, SaltX will build and demonstrate a pilot GHP system. SaltX’s efforts to create momentum with OEMs via gas utilities, e.g Gas de France and British Gas, who are keen to promote gas driven innovation, has started to bear fruit. SaltX has now received strong interest from OEMs, such as Vaillant and NIBE, who will receive regular progress updates during Phase II.
Following completion, SaltX will deliver on joint development agreements with OEMs, agreed upon during Phase II, and launch its GHP to a significant portion of the 7m unit a year European gas boiler market, aiming at revenues of 225m EUR by 2024 and total job creation of 30
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering ecosystem-based management climatic change mitigation
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering thermodynamic engineering heat engineering
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy natural gas
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy solar energy solar thermal
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3.3. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.2.1.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
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H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SMEInst-2016-2017
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
12944 Hagersten
Sweden
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.