Iberdrola España co-organises and hosts the 3rd Heat Pump Forum
- Held at the Iberdrola Tower in Bilbao, the third edition of the Heat Pump Forum focused on the role of this technology in the industrial sector and the need for local industrial development of its entire supply chain.
Iberdrola España and the Association of Air Conditioning Equipment Manufacturers (AFEC) held the 3rd Heat Pump Forum in Bilbao on 24 October, with the collaboration of the Construction Cluster of the Basque Country - Eraikune.
After a first forum at the Iberdrola campus in Madrid in 2021, which reviewed heat pump applications in residential and industrial environments; and a second one in Cordoba under the slogan "Heat pump: opportunities for training and employment", Iberdrola España's headquarters in Bilbao hosted representatives from different sectors and institutions related to industry, construction, energy, technology, sustainability, etc., to analyse the industrial alliances required to deploy a local industry of this technology and its entire supply chain, and its wider scope of application in industrial processes, to analyse the industrial alliances needed to deploy a local industry for this technology and its entire supply chain, and a wider scope of application in industrial processes.
Maite Ruffo, director of the sector portal Caloryfrio.com, led an interesting day, which began with speeches by Javier Arriola - director of the northern region of Iberdrola España, Mikel Amundarain, deputy minister of industry of the Basque Government, and Francisco Perucho, president of AFEC, who emphasised the importance of continuing to promote renewable energies and an intelligent distribution network that links consumption without the need for storage; on the role of alliances to support an industrial fabric mainly made up of SMEs; on the peculiar signs of identity of the Basque Country, with its policies of industrial clusters and the promotion of public-private collaboration; and on the need to continue to adapt continuously to the needs of the market.
The three presentations that outlined the growth of the heat pump sector, given by Marta San Roman, director of AFEC, Samuel Pérez, leader of the hydrogen and heat areas in the Innovation Department of Iberdrola España, and Asier Maiztegui, director of strategy and business development for decarbonisation at Tecnalia, revolved around the industrial fabric of this sector, applications in the residential sector, the electrification of demand, and the state of the art and technological projection of industrial heat pumps, which are increasingly reaching higher temperatures.
The forum continued with a debate about industrial development around the heat pump and its supply and value chains, composed of Jon Fernández Luzuriaga - head of industry decarbonisation projects at the Energy Cluster of the Basque Country; Maialen Oregi - market manager and project manager at the Eraikune Construction Cluster of the Basque Country; Cristóbal Sánchez - secretary general of industry and mines in the Andalusian Regional Government; Cristina Oyón - director of technology, innovation and sustainability at SPRI Group; and Francisco Perucho - president at AFEC.
Issues related to the industrial policies of the European Union, the Member States and the Autonomous Communities were highlighted in this common objective of decarbonisation. It was concluded, among other things, that we need clear and transparent regulations that are easily applicable (including subsidies). It is also necessary a total cultural transformation, which involves education towards sustainability, having a consensual plan and concentrating resources on the highest priority objectives. These include decarbonised construction and more industrial pilot projects that bring technological progress closer to end users.