There is no single way for remotely controlling new heat pumps yet, nor is there a trend in that direction, according to the 'Flexmonitor Heat Pumps' report of Flexiblepower Alliance Network (FAN) and TKI Urban Energy. This hampers the possibilities of easily and quickly deploying heat pumps for a reliable electricity supply and creates unnecessary costs and complexity to use energy management systems. We really need to work towards standardisation for the large-scale deployment of energy management for heat pumps, is therefore the appeal of the FAN foundation.
LCP-Delta researched the connectivity of heat pumps on behalf of Flexiblepower Alliance Network (FAN) and TKI Urban Energy. The demand for heat pumps is high and the number of installed heat pumps in the Netherlands is expected to grow considerably until 2030. By properly controlling heat pumps via an energy management system, a heat pump can be used as well as possible and help to optimize the electricity grid.
One standard protocol for the energy management of heat pumps (and, for example, solar panels and charging stations) makes this optimization much easier.
It also makes it easier to roll out smart energy services and limits the investments required. The industry is certainly aware of the value of energy management, according to the research. In practice, however, many manufacturers are still working on their own protocols and it seems difficult to jointly arrive at a single standard from the industry.
Fortunately, the vast majority of heat pumps do support smart energy services. FAN and TKI Urban Energy therefore aim to use one standard for all energy management applications so that 80% of the market volume uses the same open energy management standard by the end of 2024.
The full report with a market update on heat pumps in the Netherlands can be downloaded here.