Kensa Heat Pumps has broken its production records by doubling its output over the past 18 months and working towards a further twofold increase in capacity by 2023.
To facilitate the widespread roll-out of the technology, Kensa has also urged 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 ground source heat pumps 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,” the company added.
Around one million tonnes of carbon will be saved as a result of Kensa’s ground source heat pump installations across social housing, new build developments, private retrofit homes, and businesses in the UK, the company estimated.
Kensa Group CEO Simon Lomax said: “Kensa has passionately advocated for a long time that ground source heat pumps 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.
“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 ground source heat pumps in Cornwall since 1999. It said market share has grown steadily over the years to 50%, bolstered by the Group’s partnership with Legal & General in 2020. The manufacturer has added over 60 jobs in the past year and said it was continuing to recruit.