Six New HPT TCP Project Proposals Head to November ExCo Decision in Pisa

Six new international collaboration projects in heat pumping technologies are now in the pipeline for the IEA Technology Collaboration Programme on Heat Pumping Technologies (HPT TCP), following a National Experts' Meeting that brought together more than 127 registrants from 27 countries on 27 October 2026. Decisions on which proposals to advance will be taken at the HPT TCP Executive Committee meeting in Pisa, Italy, on 17–19 November 2026.

Meeting overview

Hosted by the Heat Pump Centre at RISE, the annual online session ran for three hours and attracted participants from Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania and South America, with the largest delegations from Italy, Canada, the United States and Germany. Seventy participants joined the live discussion. The meeting was chaired by Caroline Haglund Stignor and Metkel Yebiyo of the Heat Pump Centre, with support from Monica Axell, Mia Westh, Elin Svensson and Markus Lindahl. Its stated aim was to exchange knowledge, identify emerging priorities and generate ideas for future projects in line with the HPT TCP Strategic Work Plan 2023–2028. The introductory presentation by Caroline Haglund Stignor can be accessed here.

Six proposals on the table

The first half of the meeting featured six project ideas, each followed by audience questions. All are open to additional participants.

• Heat Pumps in Action (follow-up on HPT Project 62). Kyra Sophie Rimrodt of Heatpumpswatch, Germany, presented a project on operating heat pumps in multi-family residential buildings. Building on HPT Annex 50 and HPT Project 62, it shifts the question from "Can it work?" to "How can it scale?", covering cooling, costs, new refrigerants and safety, monitoring, and an expanded case-study database. Planned start: December 2026 or January 2027. [Click here to access the presentation]

• Heat pumps for hydrogen and carbon capture. Veronika Wilk of AIT, Austria, proposed a three-year project to investigate heat integration with heat pumps in hydrogen and carbon-capture processes and infrastructure to enhance energy efficiency. Partners from Austria and Denmark are confirmed so far; the project is planned to start soon. [Click here to access the presentation]

• CliCo-Nat: Climate-friendly comfort cooling with natural refrigerants. Serena Danesi of ZHAW, Switzerland, outlined how heating-oriented buildings and heat-pump systems can deliver comfort cooling with propane, CO₂ and ammonia as heat waves become more frequent. The 36-month project, planned to start in April 2027, will produce an international technology map and design-and-retrofit guidance. Partners in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the USA have confirmed interest to date. [Click here to access the presentation]

• Energetic optimisation of multi-use waste-energy heat pumps. Anne Hartmann of ITG Dresden, Germany, proposed work on exhaust-air and waste-water heat pumps that provide heating, cooling and domestic hot water. Tasks include standardised measurement conditions and model-predictive-control strategies. The three-year project is planned to start around the turn of 2026/2027. [Click here to access the presentation]

• Advancing heat pump circularity (follow-up on HPT Project 65). Esben Vendelbo Foged of the Danish Technological Institute presented a project framed around the question "Where is the money in circularity?". Focusing on heat pumps up to 70 kW, it will explore circular business models, refrigerant management, reverse logistics and second-hand markets. [Click here to access the presentation]

• Safe use of refrigerants in heat pumping technologies (follow-up on HPT Project 64). Thore Oltersdorf and Timo Methler of Fraunhofer ISE, Germany, proposed a public, versioned catalogue of risk-assessment inputs—such as leak rates and ignition sources—to make risk assessments comparable across countries. Seven countries have signalled interest; a mid-2027 start is planned. [Click here to access the presentation]

Research-gap workshop

After a short introduction to how projects are started and joined within HPT TCP, participants split into breakout groups, each covering one of the four RDD&D priority areas of the Strategic Work Plan: system integration; robust, sustainable and affordable value chains; extending operating range and applications; and refrigerants and new technologies. Using a shared online whiteboard, the groups identified research gaps, possibilities and challenges that could be explored in future collaboration projects, then reported key points back to the main room.

Next steps and participation

Several of the proposals will be presented to the HPT TCP Executive Committee at its autumn meeting in Pisa, where decisions on new projects are taken. Proponents encouraged participants to contact their national ExCo delegate to express support and interest in joining. Experts from HPT TCP member countries can join a project with approval from their country's delegate, while organisations from non-member countries may take part as limited sponsors. Anyone interested in a proposal is welcome to contact the presenters or the Heat Pump Centre.

The hosts, Caroline Haglund Stignor and Metkel Yebiyo, expressed gratitude to all participants and noted that the ideas presented and discussed would help shape the next generation of international heat-pump collaboration.

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