The first combined heat pump and home heat battery storage system has been installed in a home in Inverness as part of the rollout of 150 zero carbon heating systems across Scotland.
The Re-HEAT project is a large scale trial SP Energy Networks is running alongside Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), working with E.ON, Daikin and Sunamp.
The Re-HEAT project will also test whether participating households can reduce their energy bills compared to gas or pure electric heating, by taking advantage of times when electricity prices are lower to charge their heat batteries.
Scott Mathieson, SP Energy Network’s Planning & Regulation Director, said:
Our electricity networks are at the heart of the transition to a Net Zero Scotland, and we recognise the need to take action now to ensure they are able to cope with the significant increase in demand we know we’ll see as more low carbon technology is connected.
We are really pleased to see our ReHeat project reach its first significant milestone, kickstarting our work to explore how electricity networks can facilitate the large-scale electrification of heat – which comes at a time when innovative solutions are more critical than ever to ensuring a Just Transition and to enabling us to keep power flowing to our customers and communities.
Rhys Williams, Re-HEAT Project Manager for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, said:
We are delighted to have reached the landmark of installing the first heat pump in a customer’s home and look forward to tracking the benefits to that household over the next couple of winters. Households with a heat pump and an electric vehicle can have a peak electricity requirement that is twenty times higher than households without these low carbon technologies. It is therefore essential that we manage the transition to net zero technologies as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.
Charlotte Flowerdew, Programme Manager at E.ON, said:
We are delighted to be part of this ground-breaking project in Scotland. We have seen impressive uptake from households but there is still some time for eligible homeowners to take advantage of the funding available to upgrade their heating and hot water system to the latest technology. This will help lower carbon footprints and may help to reduce heating costs.
