The ‘LG Heat Pump Package’ Chosen by 102 Households in the Netherlands... On the Ground as LG Targets Europe [Report]

 【Ridderkerk, the Netherlands = Reporter Im Soo-bin】On July 7 local time, this reporter visited Ridderkerk in the Netherlands. Construction was underway on a residential complex with 102 units, and rows of LG Electronics heat-pump outdoor units had already been installed on the roof of a building that was well advanced in construction. 
The site features an integrated solution combining LG Electronics’ air-source heat-pump heating and cooling system, Therma V, with a stainless-steel buffer tank from OSO Hotwater, a premium hot-water solutions company acquired by LG Electronics last year. This is the first time LG Electronics has bundled the two products into a single package for a large-scale residential project with more than 100 units. 


Robin Klaus, leader of the Eco Solution (ES) business at LG Electronics Benelux, said at the site, "European customers’ needs are shifting toward integrated solutions that more conveniently cover heating and cooling, hot water, thermal storage, and control." He added, "The reliability of LG Electronics’ heat-pump solutions, based on its core technologies in compressors, motors, and heat exchangers, has long been recognized in the market. We will develop hot-water solutions that combine heat pumps with various tank product lines, including buffer tanks, and use them to secure new markets." ■Heat pumps cut energy use by 40–60%
The Therma V installed at the site uses thermal energy drawn from outdoor air, rather than fossil fuels, to change the state of a refrigerant and provide indoor cooling, heating, and hot water. Equipped with a high-efficiency inverter scroll compressor developed by LG Electronics, it can produce approximately four to five times as much thermal energy as the electricity it consumes. Compared with fossil-fuel boilers, it can reduce energy use by approximately 40–60%, also helping to lower carbon emissions. 
The buffer tank installed alongside Therma V is another key component of the integrated solution. It acts as a kind of buffer device, storing a certain amount of heating water produced by the heat pump and supplying it when needed. Even when the amount of water required for heating decreases, it helps the heat pump operate stably instead of repeatedly starting and stopping over short periods. 
Klaus said, "Using a buffer tank allows the heat pump to operate more stably, reducing the number of compressor shutdowns and increasing efficiency. As a result, the building’s overall energy consumption can also be lowered." LG Electronics applied a high-performance insulation structure to the buffer tank to reduce heat loss and used stainless steel to lower the risk of internal corrosion and rust. ■Accelerating B2B expansion with integrated solutionsIn this project, LG Electronics broadened its business-to-business (B2B) operations by combining the heat pump and buffer tank into a single system. Until now, construction companies had to separately select, order, and manage suppliers for heat-pump solutions and buffer tanks. LG Electronics, by contrast, designed the capacities, piping, and control methods of the heat pump and buffer tank as one system, improving construction and after-sales management efficiency. For customers, management and maintenance become more convenient, while LG Electronics gains new business opportunities spanning heating, cooling, and hot-water solutions. 
A site official said, "LG Electronics has steadily supplied related products to typical renovation projects, but this is the first time it has supplied them in package form to a large-scale residential project with more than 100 units." LG Electronics plans to use this project as a reference case for large-scale residential integrated solutions and expand related orders in Europe.
In addition, technological capabilities that address widely varying regional climates are important for expanding in the European market. Because climate conditions range from severe cold in Northern Europe to high summer temperatures in Southern Europe, stable performance and energy efficiency directly determine competitiveness in winning heat-pump contracts.  Accordingly, LG Electronics is researching high-efficiency, high-performance heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning technologies in cold regions such as South Korea, Alaska in the United States, Oslo in Norway, and Harbin in China, as well as hot regions such as Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. 
Building on these technologies, LG Electronics is also expanding its supply record in Europe, a key market for residential heat pumps. The company has supplied heat pumps to more than 100,000 households in five Southern European countries, including France and Spain, and has also supplied products to a large-scale residential complex of approximately 1,500 households in the Republic of North Macedonia. In Germany, it is expanding supply through collaboration with local installers. In the United Kingdom, it has broadened its business base in major European markets by forming a partnership with power supplier Octopus Energy for its heat-pump business. 
[email protected] Im Soo-bin Reporter