8 NOVEMBER 2023IN MYPINIONMore than 60% of the current energy consumption for heating globally is based on fossil fuels like gas, oil, and coal. Heat pumps powered by low-emissions electricity, are the central technology in the global transition to secure sustainable heating. The heat pump market has been growing strongly in recent years, due to falling costs and strong incentives. Global heat pump sales rose by nearly 15 percent in 2021, double the average of the past decade, led by the European Union where they rose by around 35 percent. Several initiatives from the European Union, like `RE Power EU', will accelerate the transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy-based heating systems like heat pumps. Europe is expected to add more than 43 million heat pumps to the current 20 million installations by 2030, heating half of its buildings with renewable energy. The total heat pump stock will reach nearly 60 million units, significantly contributing to cleaner air and grid stability. This is what new forecasts from the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), based on aggregated data collected by EHPA's national member associations in 21 European countries, reveal. Based on recent sales figures, by 2030, there will be an estimated 253 million heat pump systems installed globally. The significant growth of these products lead the semiconductors sector to new challenges like highly efficient and affordable power components and a significant reduction of the time-to-market. We could identify three major categories of products that play a significant role in this growth: power electronics, control electronics and IoT devices. The heat pump itself consists of a compressor, which moves a refrigerant through a refrigeration cycle, By Giacomo Fiocchi, Senior Director of Electronics, Ariston Group [BIT: ARIS]HEATING HEAT PUMP: NEW CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SEMICONDUCTORSGiacomo Fiocchi
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