Top Stories

  1. Johnson Controls (15 Sep) launched Sabroe HitemHP industrial high-temperature heat pumps in 10 models from 100–1,000 kW: isobutane for flow temperatures up to 107°C, butane up to 122°C; part-load COP is claimed up to 20% higher, with turndown to 18%
  2. Clivet (14 Sep) started production at a new €24m, 14,000 m² heat-pump factory in Feltre, Italy; full-capacity output is guided at 8,800 units a year—doubling those lines—with 70% destined for export, especially central and northern Europe
  3. Germany inaugurated (18 Sep) its first seawater heat pump feeding a district-heating network, in Neustadt in Holstein: a Johnson Controls Sabroe DualPAC ammonia unit of 700 kW raises glycol-loop heat to 70°C across an approximately 2 km network
  4. AHRI’s July 2026 print, circulating this week, put US shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps at 916,830—20.1% above July 2025—with heat pumps at 413,679 (+17.6%), 45.1% of the combined total
  5. China’s mid-September refrigerant notes kept East-China R32 firm around ¥63,500–65,500/t; the next hard quota date remains 31 Oct, California SB 222 still awaits Newsom’s 30 Sep signature or veto, and MEE’s 2026 No. 42 notice bans production of HCFC-22 multi-split air-conditioning (heat pump) units from 1 Jan 2027
Policy

Policy & Regulation

  • China’s quota calendar still points to 31 October for 2027 ODS and HFC quota and initial-transfer applications; the 2027 draft freeze of HFC production and use totals at 2026 levels remains provisional until a final notice. What did move on the compliance shelf—missed in weeks 36–37—is MEE announcement 2026 No. 42 (issued 2 Sep): from 1 January 2027, production of multi-split air-conditioning (heat pump) units using HCFC-22 as refrigerant is prohibited. The product scope is defined by the annex to that notice, including the GB/T 18837-2026 line that itself takes effect on 1 Nov. World Ozone Day (16 Sep) added a political overlay: UN secretary-general António Guterres urged countries to ratify and implement the Kigali Amendment and to accelerate sustainable cooling. Mid-September trade notes kept East-China R32 around ¥63,500–65,500/t (spot a shade below early-September factory holds near ¥65,500–66,000/t). Treat those quotes as trade-desk colour under a freeze-plus-tight-spot story, not as a new Kigali cut.
  • In the English-speaking jurisdictions tracked since week 36, the clocks are still permitting, prices and vouchers. California SB 222 remains enrolled on Governor Newsom’s desk after presentation on 30 Aug; the statutory deadline to sign or veto is 30 Sep. Canary Media (14 Sep) reported that the Governor’s office declined to say which way he is leaning. In Great Britain, Cooling Post (16 Sep) summarised a letter from 123 organisations—coordinated by E3G and Energy UK, and signed by HPA UK plus heat-pump makers including Daikin, Mitsubishi Electric, Vaillant, Nibe and Worcester Bosch—asking the Autumn Budget (28 Oct) to move policy levies off electricity bills. Signatories claim that shift could cut business electricity prices by up to 20% and bring total average household bill relief to as much as £250 a year including the 2025-budget intervention. That is the same electricity-to-gas relativity BEAMA named in week 37, now as a fiscal ask. Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union (16 Sep) promised a European Heatwave Plan that names urban cooling and energy-efficient cooling; the EU’s 1 Jan 2027 GWP<150 placement limits for defined self-contained AC/heat-pump categories up to 50 kW are unchanged.
Markets

Market & Industry

  • The US July shipment print is a cooling-season factory story, not a rebuttal of the UK’s H1 retrofit drop. AHRI figures circulating this week put combined central air-conditioner and air-source heat-pump shipments at 916,830 in July 2026, 20.1% above July 2025. Air conditioners were 503,151 (+22.3%); heat pumps 413,679 (+17.6%), 45.1% of the combined July total—the second-highest July share in the series after 2025. Year-to-date combined shipments reached 5,633,518, +5.5%. Set that beside week 37’s DESNZ/MCS retrofit count for existing UK homes (20,895 in H1 2026, −22%): one is units leaving US factories in a hot July; the other is certified replacements of fossil systems. They should not be averaged into a single global demand number. The UK follow-up this week is the levy letter: if electricity remains the expensive fuel, the water-based retrofit channel that already dominates MCS installs will stay a consumer-proposition problem into the Autumn Budget.
  • On the European capacity side, Clivet used Feltre (reported 14 Sep) to add commercial and natural-refrigerant lines rather than a single flagship SKU. New lines assemble SHEEN at 30 / 60 / 90 kW, Thunder on R290, Storm, SHEEN 130 kW, and Modular HP ranges for the American market. Full-capacity guidance is 8,800 units a year, doubling those lines, with 70% of output aimed at export—especially central and northern Europe’s commercial decarbonisation demand. The plant sits inside Midea Building Technologies’ European expansion after last summer’s Padua Innovation Centre; it currently lists about 80 staff, 50 of them in production. That is a manufacturing answer to the same GWP<150 shelf pressure Midea used IFA for in week 36. The residential hydrocarbon track also picked up a field example: Cooling Post (19 Sep) reported six Panasonic Aquarea Big M R290 units, 25 kW each and 150 kW combined, serving 89 senior apartments in Leipzig with T-CAP claimed to hold 55°C flow down to −15°C outdoor.
Tech

Technology & Demonstrations

  • Johnson Controls’ Sabroe HitemHP launch is an industrial high-temperature hydrocarbon package, not a light-commercial refresh. Cooling Post and Refindustry (15–16 Sep) report 10 standard models from 100 to 1,000 kW, using isobutane for outputs up to 107°C or butane up to 122°C, built around the Sabroe SMC single-stage reciprocating compressor with skip-free VSD. Units are factory-assembled in Holme, Denmark, with refrigerant detectors, ATEX ventilation, sirens and safety lighting. Part-load COP is claimed up to 20% higher than at full load, with capacity from 100% down to 18%. In one customer application, Johnson Controls claims up to three times the energy efficiency of electric boilers and, when paired with waste heat from a refrigeration plant, energy-cost cuts of more than 91%, water-cost cuts of up to 30%, and on-site CO₂ cuts of up to 82%. Treat the temperature, COP and cost-delta figures as manufacturer claims until the exact refrigerant, source temperature and certified combination are on the project submittal.
  • Mitsubishi Electric’s plate-heat-exchanger note (14 Sep) is a charge-reduction research claim, not a shipping SKU. Cooling Post reports a design with inlet/outlet distribution channels and micro-offset fins that is said to triple heat-transfer performance versus the company’s conventional grooved-plate exchangers and cut refrigerant charge to about one-third. The stated motive is the shift to flammable lower-GWP refrigerants: higher heat transfer is the path to a smaller inventory. Possible applications named include water-based heating and cooling, electric-vehicle heat pumps and air-cooled air conditioners. Until a product family, test standard and charge limit are published, keep the 3× / ⅓ figures in the screening file, not in a bill of quantities.
  • Two demonstration-scale stories landed this week. In Neustadt in Holstein (18 Sep), Germany’s first seawater-to-district-heating heat pump entered regular supply after months of trials: harbour-basin seawater is filtered and passed through a heat exchanger into a glycol loop, then a 700 kW Sabroe DualPAC ammonia heat pump raises the temperature to 70°C for an approximately 2 km network with a 25,000 L buffer. Separately, Daikin Applied Europe and Swiss contractor CTS Group (17 Sep) claim a patented facility-water and free-cooling concept that can hold PUE below 1.2 in assessed Middle Eastern conditions and as low as 1.09 in Nordic climates, factory-tested against AI load profiles; those PUE numbers depend on climate and the share of IT load on liquid cooling, and should be treated as partner claims. No new Chinese product standard took effect this week. JB/T 15555-2026 remains in force from 1 Sep; GB/T 18837-2026 is still a 1 Nov event—and now also the product-standard line sitting behind the HCFC-22 multi-split production ban.
Analysis

Why It Matters

  • For UK and Northern European residential: H1 retrofit volumes fell while Clivet added commercial R290 capacity and Panasonic showed an occupied R290 cascade. Specification teams should not average the AHRI July print with the DESNZ H1 count. The actionable UK question this week is whether the Autumn Budget moves levies off electricity before the water-based retrofit channel is asked to recover.
  • For refrigerant and quota strategy: China’s signal is still price under a freeze, plus a hard HCFC-22 multi-split production stop on 1 Jan 2027. Keep 31 Oct as the 2027 filing date. In Europe the hydrocarbon track now runs from residential SKUs (weeks 36–37) to industrial output above 90°C—HitemHP is a process-heat claim, not a dwelling one.
  • For project owners: clocks tightened by a week. SB 222 is unsigned until 30 Sep; Chillventa is three weeks out (13–15 Oct); GB/T 18837-2026 arrives 1 Nov; HCFC-22 multi-split production and EU GWP<150 placement limits share 1 Jan 2027. Treat HitemHP’s 107/122°C and 91% cost-cut figures, Mitsubishi’s 3× / ⅓ charge claim, and Daikin–CTS PUE numbers as screening inputs; require the exact refrigerant, source temperature, charge limit and test boundary before they enter a financial or tender model.
  • Apply the signal: HitemHP’s headline application is refrigeration-plant waste heat lifted to process temperature. Decide whether direct exchange, condenser recovery or a heat pump fits the site before selecting a catalogue unit. The refrigeration waste-heat recovery guide provides the measurement and comparison sequence.
Calendar

Events Calendar

  • 16 Sep 2026: World Ozone Day (passed). 24 Sep: IOR Industry Skills Alliance, London. 30 Sep: California Governor’s deadline to sign or veto SB 222. 13–15 Oct: Chillventa, Nuremberg (three weeks). 28 Oct: UK Autumn Budget (electricity-levy ask). 31 Oct: China 2027 ODS/HFC quota and initial-transfer applications. 1 Nov: GB/T 18837-2026 for multi-split air-conditioning (heat pump) units takes effect.
  • 1 Jan 2027: EU GWP<150 limits begin for defined self-contained AC/heat-pump categories up to 50 kW, subject to safety exceptions; China bans production of HCFC-22 multi-split air-conditioning (heat pump) units. H1 2027: SLB targets close of the Kelvion acquisition (week 36). 30 Apr / 31 Aug 2027: planned China in-year HFC quota-adjustment windows under the 2027 drafts.
Sources

Primary Sources