BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 31. The sales of heat pumps in 2022 globally reached double-digit growth for the second year on a row, increasing by 11 percent year-on-year, Trend reports, citing the latest publication from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
"Globally, heat pumps, when used as a main heating device, cover around 10% of heating needs in buildings today. This corresponds to over 100 million households, meaning that one in ten homes that require substantial heating are served by heat pumps today. However, many more households use heat pumps only part of the winter or as a supplementary source of heating in regions where they are mainly used for cooling buildings," the report said.
According to the agency's analysis, to meet all existing national energy and climate commitments worldwide, heat pumps will need to reach almost 20 percent of the global heating needs in buildings by 2030. At the same time, the IEA noted that the world is almost on track with this, if the current growth is going to be sustained. Although, heat pump sales should increase by more than 15 percent per year during this decade to reach net zero by 2050.
"Energy efficiency retrofits also need to accelerate to ensure that new heat pumps installed in existing buildings are as efficient as possible and not oversized. This will lower upfront and operating costs for consumers and reduce strains on power systems, especially if combined with smart controls for flexible operation," the report concluded.