Air source heat pump industry re-taste policy "sweetness"

Summary: For the air source heat pump industry, 2011 is a year worth remembering. Air source heat pump water heater officially entered the "Guide to the Government Procurement of Energy-saving Products," and the company's long-term expectations for policy support have finally been realized. On December 8, 2011, the “China Heat Pump Industry Association Annual Conference” was held in Beijing in the form of a “2011 China Energy Conservation and Low Carbon Development Forum” sub-forum. Although the scale of the conference was far less than the “Building Energy Conservation Forum” held during the same period, it still conveyed the enthusiastic expectation of the air-source heat pump industry for policy support and its great enthusiasm for seeking development.

Air-source heat pump companies that have tasted the "better" policy have now turned their attention to "renewable energy." The relevant person in charge of the China Heat Pump Industry Alliance stated that the state should incorporate “air energy” into the scope of renewable energy, and incorporate energy-efficient air source heat pumps into energy-saving and people-friendly projects and enjoy the same policies as solar water heaters.

According to the "Renewable Energy Law", renewable energy refers to non-fossil energy such as wind energy, solar energy, hydro energy, biomass energy, geothermal energy, and ocean energy. According to Chen Neng, project manager of the China Energy Conservation Association, environmental heat sources such as air heat sources are not included in the “Renewable Energy Law” clause, but they have not been excluded from the scope of renewable energy. The current status is not very clear.

The reason why it is so concerned about whether or not to obtain a definite status is not unrelated to the actual resistance encountered in the promotion of air source heat pumps. According to reports, although the air source heat pump has entered the "Guidelines for government procurement of energy-saving products," but because of its unclear status, most provinces do not regard it as a renewable energy source, and products cannot enjoy the support of government policies like solar water heaters. The use of air source heat pumps is also not a part of the extra points for green building assessment, which has hindered the promotion of the air source heat pump market to some extent. A person in charge of a heat pump company said frankly: “We have just been encouraged to enter the Catalogue for Government Procurement of Energy-saving Products, thinking that our products have finally become nationally recognized energy-saving products, but we can’t enjoy the relevant policy support when we reach the place. This allows us to The situation is very embarrassing.” It is noteworthy that the EU and Australia and other countries and regions have included air source heat pump water heater technology in the scope of renewable energy, and have given corresponding policy support.

According to data from the China Industrial Research Center of the Heat Pump Industry Alliance, China's air source heat pump water heaters have sales of less than 30 million yuan in 2003 and reached 3.09 billion yuan by 2010; the number of companies has grown from 54 in 2005 to the present. More than 400 homes. Based on this calculation, by 2015, the annual output value of air source heat pump water heater industry is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan.

With the expansion of the industrial scale and the explosion of the number of companies, the air source heat pump water heater industry has also experienced a discordant voice. Leading companies such as Midea, Tongyi, Tianshu, and Jinjiang Bailang have all called for enterprises to jointly maintain a good market environment and increase market recognition of air source heat pump water heaters.