$85m for US manufacturing of heat pumps
The US government has announced $85m for four heat pump manufacturers to accelerate the manufacturing of electric heat pumps.
The funding for heat pump production under the US Defense Production Act would allow for U.S. manufacturing of an additional 155,000 residential heat pumps, 440,000 residential heat pump water heaters, 2,000 school heat pumps, and 20,000 large heat pump compressors each year.
This comes as Bosch is buying the Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning (JCH) joint venture to dominate the global residential heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) market in an €7.4bn ($8bn) deal, its largest ever acquisition.
The selected projects are the second round of awards from DOE’s authorization with plants in New York, Tennessee, Texas, and Rhode Island.
“Extreme weather events are harming our grid and serving as a primary driver of higher electricity bills, underscoring the need to increase access to energy efficient technologies,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda is manufacturing hundreds of thousands of energy-saving heat pumps here in the USA, helping American households and businesses keep money in their pockets all while strengthening our national security and creating good-paying jobs.”
Heating and cooling buildings, homes, offices, schools, hospitals, military bases, and other critical facilities drive more than 35% of all US energy consumption and contribute more than one third of greenhouse gas emissions. Heat pumps can efficiently provide heating and cooling and hot water for homes and businesses, especially when homes are well insulated.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) also announced a $2.2bn investment for eight projects across 18 states to boost grid reliability to protect against growing threats of extreme weather events.
Funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Programme, the eight projects will deploy new, innovative transmission infrastructure and technology upgrades to the existing grid that will add nearly 13 gigawatts (GW) of grid capacity, including 4,800 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind.
“The first half of 2024 has already broken records for the hottest days in Earth’s history, and as extreme weather continues to hit every part of the country, we must act with urgency to strengthen our aging grid to protect American communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.
“As we build out the nation’s power grid to keep pace with historic manufacturing and clean energy growth, we are doing so by harnessing innovative technologies to lower energy costs, create hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, and take on the climate crisis. The investments we are making today will enhance the strength and resilience of our grid, especially in the face of more climate-fueled extreme weather events like wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat,” said White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.
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