2. Disruption to heat business models: What's the outlook

Traditional heat business models are evolving beyond just selling kWh and shifting boxes. New routes to market such as online sales platforms are increasingly threatening the traditional sales channels, and new customer propositions such as Heat-as-a-Service are emerging which promise to erode customer barriers to the uptake of low carbon heating. Digitalisation and connectivity is bringing more information – and potentially decision-making power – to the customer and changing the way the installer works.  Since last year, we see a step change in how this disruption is evolving – from trials and pilots to real commercial projects. We will explore two areas:

                2a. From kWh to comfort – focusing on the evolution of customer propositions - who will be the winners in the future heating market, and with what propositions?

                2b. From shifting boxes to selling services – focusing on route-to-market disruptions – how will heating products be sold in future?)

Kristofer Fichtner, Co-Founder, Ecoworks

Ed Hunt, Service Design Lead Consultant, Energy Systems Catapult

3. Technology opportunities in retrofit

Low carbon and high-efficiency heating appliances are evolving to tackle the most challenging end-user sectors.  We will share highlights of the latest products emerging to support decarbonisation of heat in retrofit.

4. Electrification of heat and decarbonising the electricity system: Opportunities from sector coupling

As the electricity sector decarbonises, the need for energy system flexibility is rising.   For electric heating (and cooling) products, the ability to control the timing of demand is becoming more important than the amount of demand.   Business models utilising the flexible operation of residential electric heating products are beginning to move from the trial stage to commercial reality in some markets, potentially creating value for customers, networks, energy suppliers and new entrants.  Gas players are engaging too, seeing the potential to contribute to the flexibility of the whole energy system.  We will explore the outlook for those trying to capture value from this flexibility, and discuss the activities (and successes) of a range of players.

Ian Rose, Professional Services Director, Passiv Systems

Hakan Ludvigson, CEO & Founder, Eliq

5. Hydrogen for heat: Hype, hope or a silver bullet?

Hydrogen is a hot topic with policy-makers in many markets at the moment, not least for its potential role in decarbonising gas. It is clear that hydrogen will be a part of the future energy system – though “hydrogen for heat” is moving forward at very different rates in different markets, with some uncertainties remaining about how it will be used.  Some manufacturers have already jumped ahead of the curve, launching hydrogen boilers and fuel cells, and others point to the potential for “hydrogen hybrids”. We will explore in this session, how hydrogen for heat is evolving in key markets, how it could interplay with other energy vectors, and what the impact could be on the heating market.

Marco Bijkerk, Manager Innovative New Technologies, Remeha