In November 2023 it was announced that senior lecturer in engineering and technology Dr Muhammed Imran and his collaborators were to receive almost £1m from the UK government to develop and commercialise cascade heat pumps.
Using thermal energy, the new technology is designed to replace existing systems and be used for cooling and heating homes.
In May 2024 the government officially announced it was investing £16m to support the recovery and future sustainability of Ukraine’s energy system.
Dr Imran will be working with the Institute of Engineering Thermophysics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Heat Pumps VDE LLC and other partners on making heat the new technology easier to retrofit into existing domestic heating systems.
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The project aims to swap conventional boilers for heat pumps without the need for expensive modifications to existing distribution systems. The team plan to do this by delivering significantly higher temperatures than existing technologies. A demonstration system will be installed in Ukraine as part of the project.
In a statement, Dr Imran said: “The cascade heat pump system can provide high temperature hot water for space heating under a wide range of outdoor air temperatures - even under severely cold outdoor weather conditions.
“This is important because Ukrainian winter temperatures usually range between 2oC to -4.8oC but can reach as low -21.6oC. In addition, our system will allow Ukraine to save energy and reduce its dependence on natural gas for heating and decrease its reliance on imports.”
The government initiative involves collaborations between over 50 UK and Ukrainian organisations and will receive an additional £5m from private sector money.
The various funded projects will carry out their work plans over the next two years and receive support from an accelerator programme for further investment and market entry.
Originally announced at the UK-hosted Ukraine Recovery Conference in June 2023, the partnership has been designed by the two governments over the course of the last 12 months.
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