SKILLSAFE EU - Skills Enhancement for Safe Handling of Highly Flammable Refrigerants in the EU

Introduction

As a result of the RePowerEU plan, close to 10 million heat pumps are expected to be installed across the EU by 2027. Coupled with the strict hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) phase down proposed in the provisional agreement for the F-gas regulation by 2030, the number of heat pumps employing refrigerants with a low global warming potential (GWP) can be expected to sharply increase.

Alternative Refrigerants

One of the alternative low GWP refrigerants is R290 (Propane), which is a non-synthetic refrigerant with a GWP of 3 compared to a GWP of 675 of an HFC like R32. This lowers the environmental impact of heat pumps from a refrigerant point of view.

Safety Concerns

However, R290 is a highly flammable refrigerant, and this can be dangerous when handled incorrectly. The existing safety standards do not consider the total lifecycle of such heat pumps and can cause significant safety concerns to individuals in the vicinity if not handled or installed with appropriate safety measures.

Upskilling Installers

This situation requires an upskilling of current installers in the market to meet the stricter safety levels of installing heat pumps with highly flammable refrigerants.

Project Overview

The 'SKILLSAFE-EU' project aims at developing an industry-wide guideline across the EU to help manufacturers and installers:

1. Design
2. Store
3. Transport
4. Install
5. Dispose of monobloc heat pumps containing R290 (Propane) as the refrigerant for residential applications.

Collaboration and Validation

It is the intention to form a joint industry expert group comprising industry-leading manufacturers, national and sectoral associations, and training institutions to facilitate the creation of such a guideline.

Upon drafting, trial trainings involving a network of heat pump installers will be conducted to validate the proposed draft. This presents an opportunity to identify practical improvements to the draft with input from training schools and further strengthen the guideline.

Dissemination of Information

The challenges presented in the expert group and observations from the trial trainings and the surveys will be further used to disseminate information.