The delegation will visit the Daikin Technology Innovation Centre, which specialises in developing innovative renewable energy technologies. The base focuses on Daikin’s core technologies including heat pumps, energy inverters, and fluorochemical technologies – while integrating them with controls and sensor technology to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Daikin UK and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) have been working together for more than ten years towards Greater Manchester’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2038. The visit forms part of Daikin UK’s mission to ramp up Greater Manchester’s decarbonisation in partnership with GMCA.
Iain Bevan, Commercial Manager for Daikin UK, Hiroyasu Ishikawa, Managing Director for Daikin UK, and Rachel McCrystal, Project Manager for Daikin UK, have travelled, alongside delegates to Osaka and Tokyo for a four-day visit. The list of delegates includes the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Japan, Greg Clark MP.
Japan is a world leader in advanced energy-efficient technologies and has been developing these with Greater Manchester in mind.
This joint trip will allow delegates to see some of these developments, while engaging with political leaders, trade officials, and Japanese businesses, with the aim of strengthening ties and driving forward decarbonisation plans for Greater Manchester.
Earlier this year, Daikin UK signed a landmark memorandum with GMCA for the region to become an area of innovation for new net-zero technologies and services, with the aim of boosting investment and job creation in the city-region.
Daikin is now implementing trials of retrofitting measures and low-carbon heating technologies, including up to 1,000 air-source heat pumps across Greater Manchester by 2025.
Installations are carried out by accredited installers through its network of Sustainable Home Centres in the region.
Iain Bevan, commercial manager for Daikin UK, said: “Greater Manchester has an exciting vision to make the city carbon-neutral by 2038, and the ambition to break new boundaries in the drive to decarbonisation – values we share at Daikin. This delegation will be an exciting exchange of ideas and plans which will benefit the residents of Greater Manchester – and hopefully across the UK – for years to come.
“Over the course of a heat pump’s 15-year lifespan, a typical three-bedroom home could save over 24,000 kg of CO2 compared with running a gas boiler, and achieve cost savings of more than £3,000*. Multiplying that by 1,000 will deliver significant environmental and financial benefits. And if all 23 million gas boilers in the UK were replaced with heat pumps, the savings in wholesale gas costs would be worth around 1.2% of GDP (£26 billion).
“At Daikin we have almost 100 years of experience in heat pump technology and are a leading player in the European heat pump heating market. We are committed to leading energy for change and are excited to see how developments in Japan and our know-how can play a key role in the decarbonisation of Greater Manchester and the wider UK.”