Mannheim / Wetzlar / Dresden, 10.06.2024: Together, the Bosch Home Comfort Group, Robotron and PPC are taking another major step forward in the energy-efficient development of heat pumps. In the collaboration, the partners are demonstrating the digital control of a heat pump using the EEBUS protocol via the PPC CLS gateway. This paves the way for the implementation of §14a.
As part of the cooperation, a Bosch heat pump (type Compress 5800i AW) was controlled via EEBUS protocol using a CLS gateway from PPC. The switching command came from the aEMT system Robotrons. The heating environment is thus ready for stepless control in accordance with §14a EnWG and can therefore be operated according to market or grid-serving aspects.
With this system, heat pump operators can benefit from electricity price-oriented and, in future, time-variable grid charges. This would also allow grid operators, for example, to react in advance to known power bottlenecks in grid sections and issue start-up commands for heat pumps. The power demand of the heat pumps is thus postponed and an emerging critical situation is defused by the lower power demand.
Enormous potential: heat pumps as a building block for decarbonization
In view of current and future developments, it is clear that there is huge potential for companies in energy sales and for competitive and metering point operators. This applies to both standardized solutions and customized approaches that serve the market addressees. By using standardized digital communication, aggregators can effectively tap into the flexibility resources of the heating transition and actively contribute to the decarbonization of the heating sector. The German government's expansion targets of installing six million heat pumps in Germany by 2030 offer enormous potential for CO2 savings. According to the “heat pump traffic light” from FfE Munich, 75% of existing buildings could already be supplied with heat pumps.
