Member Country Report 2021
Thomas Fleckl, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
Sabine Mitter, Federal Ministry Republic of Austria, Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility,Innovation and Technology

The HPT TCP is part of a network of autonomous collaborative partnerships focused on a wide range of energy technologies known as Technology Collaboration
Programmes or TCPs. The TCPs are organised under the auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA), but the TCPs are functionally and legally autonomous.
Views, findings and publications of the HPT TCP do not necessarily represent the views or policies of the IEA Secretariat or its individual member countries.

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Overview• Policy• Market statistics• Research overview

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Climate and Energy Strategy••

Austrian Climate and Energy Strategy “Mission 2030”:– The strategy formulates a goal of 100% renewables in the power sector by 2030. This
ambitious goal requires additional production capacities of renewable power of 2025 TWh, mainly achieved by wind, photovoltaic and hydro power.
– Also heat pumps will play an important role (eg. in balancing the grid). For the totalend energy consumption Austria is aiming at 46-50% of renewables by 2030. A 36%
reduction of greenhouse gas emission (compared to 2005) is targeted by 2030.
International R&D Initiative “Mission Innovation”:– Austria joined the Mission Innovation Challenges 1 Smart Grids, 7 Heating andCooling of Buildings and 8 Hydrogen. Heat Pumping Technologies are mainly linked
to challenge 7.

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National technology and implementation roadmap•Developed 2016 in a comprehensive participatory stakeholder process considering theestablished strengths of the national heat pump sector and the users’ needs.
• Different scenarios of market development in Austria in the various fields of applicationof the heat pump technology, and the corresponding technological research andinnovation demand, till 2030 were worked out.
• To enable widest possible market penetration of heat pumps in Austria, specificrecommendations for policy makers, heat pump manufacturers, users, as well as researchand development institutions were developed.
• Results for four fields of application and innovation of the heat pump technology wereachieved (see next slides)

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National technology and implementation roadmap•Heat pumps for residential and non-residential buildings– The sales of heat pumps for space heating increased continuously over the last years
especially due to improved sales volumes in the smallest capacity range up to 10kW.
Air/Water heat pumps are the dominant heat pump type sold with low investment
costs and easy installation. These trends were confirmed in the scenario
development till 2030.
– Noise emissions of air/water split units and the corresponding problems ofacceptance are seen as the greatest challenge to overcome in developing mass
markets in both capacity ranges, up to 10kW and from 10 to 20kW.
– Heat pumps for space heating in new buildings are technically mature. However,there is potential for research and development till 2030 in the area of renovation.
The market for modernization/renovation of buildings is seen by numerous experts
as the largest future market for heat pumps.
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National technology and implementation roadmap• Heat pumps in smart electric grids– The national heat pump industry developed and introduced heat pumps
fulfilling the criteria of the German “SG ready”-label. Hence, they areprepared for the use of heat pumps in smart electrical grids. Need foraction is required on the side of grid operators and utility companies.
– A broad application of heat pumps in smart electric grids requires on
one hand the expansion of smart electric grid technologies; on theother hand grid operators and utility suppliers need to answer open
questions concerning physical interfaces and information exchange. In
addition, adequate market and business models need to be developed.
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National technology and implementation roadmap•Heat pumps in thermal grids– The integration of heat pumps in thermal grids was demonstrated
successfully abroad numerous times. However, in Austria this application isstill very innovative.
– State-of-the art heat pumps can make use of the usual supply temperatureof national heat networks of up to 120°C as well as sink temperatures of55°C. This application is currently more of an economic than technicalchallenge.
– A future reduction of the supply temperatures of thermal grids as
discussed in context with an increased utilisation of industrial waste heat
respectively an intensified use of ambient heat requires so called “booster
heat pumps”.
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National technology and implementation roadmap•

Heat pumps for industrial processes– Heat pumps for industrial processes are still in a very early phase of market diffusion with small
national sales numbers, few innovators and early users, although their large technical potential.
– All relevant stakeholders (plant operators, plant engineers and planners, heat pumpmanufacturer) show a low level of awareness of the technical possibilities and the economic
feasible application potential.
– The documentation and dissemination of a larger number of national “Good Practise” examples
would be an important next step to increase the awareness level.
– Favourable boundary conditions such as e.g. the increased use of renewables in the power
generation and the extended technical possibilities of the heat pump technology enabled by
new refrigerants opens up a broad field of innovation, patents and new markets for the national
heat pump sector.
– The research topics till 2030 concern particularly the implementation of model solutions andpilot systems to be realised by integrating the heat pump technology already available inselected industries and processes, the development of improved heat pump technologies forhigher supply temperatures and the elaboration of new concepts for industrial heat pumps.

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National technology and implementation roadmap•

Market scenarios till 2030:– In the best case, the net savings on
greenhouse gas emissions induced byheat pumps can be increased up to afactor 5.4 by 2030 compared to thereference year 2015, which leads tosavings of 3.025.992 t CO2äqu in 2030.
– Of importance in this context areindustrial heat pumps which willcontribute substantially to the overallbalance although their comparatively
small number of installations.
– In addition, up to 3400 new jobs canbe created.
– The key elements until 2030 are on one
hand the development of a mass
market segment for heat pumps forheating purposes, and on the other
hand the development of a growing
market for industrial heat pumps.

Results of the scenarios up to 2030 for the aggregate of the heat pumps forspace heating (all power classes). Shown are the annual sales and the numberof systems in operation. (Hartl et al., 2016)
Abbreviation: sf ... annual sales figureswww.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

Policy and Quality Support•

National Heat Pump Assocation– “Wärmepumpe Austria” (WPA) is an industry association based in Linz that covers the entire value chain. At
present, over 90% of all heat pump manufacturers in Austria, all electricity supply companies via the Austrianenergy association “Österreichs Energie” and suppliers and drilling companies are organised by the WPA.

•Training for Installers:– The Austrian installers are educated in three steps called “Lehrling”, “Geselle” and Meister”. During theireducation they have to participate in trainings including exams to reach the next step. Within this, theinstallers get the basic knowledge of all heating technologies. If they want to specialize in the field of heatpumps manufacturer offer trainings on their products connected to some marketing activities.

•Quality Label and Keymark– On the Austrian market the EHPA-Quality label is used in almost every funding scheme. It covers beside someminimum requirements on the product efficiency also some customer aspects, for example to guaranty thesupport or the availability of spare parts and so on. The label is also strongly used in Germany, Switzerland,
the Czech Republic and some other countries.
– EHPA Heat Pump Keymark is recognized in Austria and can be used as the basis to apply for the EHPA-Quality
label, therefor it replaces the test report. In addition, some Austrian companies use the EHPA Heat Pump
Keymark to obtain subsidies in export countries when no more than the Keymark is required.

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Market Statistics•Data from 41 Austrian heat pump producers and heatpump distributors•

The total sales volume of heat pumps (domesticmarket plus export market) increased in 2020 from43,665 units sold in the previous year to 47,192 units.

•This corresponds to a growth of 8,1 %. Growth wasobserved both in the domestic market (+8.0 %) and in
the export market (+8.3 %).

•Strong growth was particularly noticeable in heatpumps for space heating up to 20 kW.

•Domestic hot water heat pumps showed an increaseof 3.1 % in the home market and an increase of 1.7 % in
the export market.

•In comparison with the roadmap, the sales figures lie
between the medium and the high scenarioMarket development of heat pumps in Austria until 2020 (Biermayr et.at., 2021)

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Research, development and innovation in Austria• Focus on the overall themes of plus energy areas, integrated regionalenergy systems, break- through technologies for industry and efficientmobility systems.
• System integration and sector coupling is a guiding principle.
• Conversion and storage technologies will contribute to these overall themes
comprising the following technological fields: bioenergy, solar thermalenergy, heat pumps, photovoltaics, wind energy, hydro power, hydrogenand fuel cells, geothermal energy, electric and thermal storage.
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Research, development and innovation in Austria• Energy research initiative builds on the programme “Flagshipregion energy” and focuses on large field tests and real-lifelaboratories for energy model regions (3 flagship regions:Green Energy Lab, New Energy for Industry and Hydrogen(WIVA P&G)).

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Monitoring energy R&D•

Austria has established a monitoring system
to yearly record all energy related research,development and first-of-its-kinddemonstration projects and financed bymeans of public funds.
• In 2019, Austria’s public expenditures forenergy-related research and development
amounted to 149,1 Million Euros.
•Public funded R&D research on heatpumping technologies and cooling devices
amounts to appr. 3,3 Mio € per year.

Public energy R&D expenditures inAustria 2017–2019 – Topics according toIEA Code (Indinger et. al, 2020)www.heatpumpingtechnologies.org

R&D in Austria•The main research topics are the development of heat pumps for use in buildings, in district heating and coolingsystems and in industrial processes, the coupling of heat pumps to smart grids and the use of low-GWP refrigerants.

•The topics were summarized in the national technology and implementation roadmap. National research
programmes such as "Energieforschung" and the "Basisprogramm" of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency offer
appropriate funding depending on the Technology Readiness Level (TRL).

•Heat pump research is carried out at universities (Graz University of Technology, Vienna University of Technology,
Innsbruck University, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna), Universities of applied sciences(Pinkafeld University of Applied Sciences) and applied research institutes (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH)addressing both national and in the European calls (H2020).

•AIT operates the only accredited laboratory for heat pumps in Austria covering the main technologies used inEurope. The laboratory provides the ability test and investigate air/water-, brine/water-, water/water- and DX (directexpansion)/water-heat pumps.

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Best practise example-largest heat pump in Central Europe•

Power Plant Simmering-Vienna (installedcapacity of 1.2 GWel / 1 GWth)• start up by end of 2018• 2 heat pumps with a total heating capacityof 27 - 40 MW• heat source: cooling circuit of the powerplants, river water also possible, 6-27°C• heat sink: district heating, up to 95°C
• average COP: 3C. Segalla, Power 2 Heat Anwendungen für das Fernwärmenetz, Großwärmepumpenforum Vienna, May 2018.

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Summary••

Heat pumps are a relevant part of the Austrian Climate and Energy Strategies
The national technology and implementation roadmap has created a good basis fordevelopment scenarios• Austria has established different quality measures (also in the European context)• Good framework for research to establish new fields of applications• Growing markets over the last years, positive outlook• Challenges are how to fulfill the steep implementation curves for decarbonisation(not only a heat pump topic)

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References• Andreas Indinger et al., 2020, Berichte aus Energie- undUmweltforschung 10/2020, „Energieforschungserhebung 2019“• Peter Biermayr et al, 2021, “Innovative Energy Technologies inAustria Market Development 2020“• Michael Hartl et al., 2016, Berichte aus Energie- undUmweltforschung 8/2016, „Österreichische TechnologieRoadmap für Wärmepumpen“
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