Heat pumps are recognised as vitally important in helping the UK achieve its net carbon zero target, with the government aiming for 600,000 of them to be installed a year by 2028 – a significant increase in current market volumes.
Every GSHP installed is the equivalent of taking a combustion engine car off the road. To date over 1 million tonnes of carbon will be saved as a result of Kensa’s GSHP installations across social housing, new build developments, private retrofit homes, and businesses in the UK.
Kensa Group chief executive, Simon Lomax, said: “Kensa has passionately advocated for a long time that GSHPs are best placed to deliver low carbon heat to the UK. There is a particularly welcome focus from Government in ensuring a large proportion are manufactured here to boost our green economy.
“In response, we are committed to scaling up production to meet increased demand and fulfil the Government’s ambition to ‘build back greener’. Our mission is to connect thousands more people in homes and businesses across the country to cleaner, greener, affordable heat.”
He continued: “Our teams have been working hard to deliver fantastic outcomes over the last few months. In the midst of the challenges of a stretched global supply chain, a labour shortage, and significantly increased volumes, Kensa celebrated the highest monthly turnover ever and continues to break records in UK heat pump production.”
Kensa has been manufacturing GSHPs from the heart of Cornwall since 1999 and pioneering the adoption of this environmentally-friendly technology for over two decades.
With a product range designed for UK properties and specialist installation division working on large-scale multiple occupancy projects, market share has grown steadily over the years to 50%, bolstered by the Group’s partnership with Legal & General in 2020. To match this rapid growth, the manufacturer has added well over 60 jobs in the past year and is continually recruiting.
To facilitate the widespread roll-out of the technology, Kensa is urging Government to focus efforts on street-by-street installations of networked heat pumps, rather than replacing gas boilers on a house-by-house basis.
This would enable whole communities to simply switch to their gas boilers to highly efficient GSHPs when they are ready to transition, supported by a subsidy from the government. If entities such as utility companies and local authorities took ownership of this underground infrastructure, then consumers would simply pay a standing charge as they do in their gas bills for the supply to their boiler.