China tech giant Midea expands European heat pump market

GUANGZHOU -- Chinese leading technology enterprise Midea Group is building a new heat-pump production base in Italy to expand its European heat pump market.

The new production base of Clivet, a high-end commercial air conditioner brand acquired by Midea in 2016, includes a heat-pump production facility and a research and development center.

With a total investment of 60 million euros, the project in Feltre in northern Italy is expected to go into operation in the second quarter of 2024, with a designed annual production capacity of 300,000 units. Its construction officially kicked off in October.

It is the latest layout of Midea Group in expanding the European heat pump market and the company's latest move to build Clivet into its European research and development center and a mainstream brand in the pan-European heating, ventilating, and air conditioning industry.

The new facility will help cut the product delivery time from five months to one month, further improving Midea's production capacity and delivery efficiency of customized heat pump solutions in Europe.

"The European factory can take advantage of the local supply chain in Europe and the manufacturing in China to offer European customers better heat pump products quicker and participate more in the local economy," said Liu Ligang, deputy general manager of Clivet.

Compared with coal-fired boilers, heat pumps can reduce carbon emissions by 60 to 80 percent.

Heat pump products are becoming a significant growth driver for Midea Group. According to market data provider ChinaIOL.com, the total export volume of Midea's heat pump products surged by more than 200 percent in the first seven months of 2022, with the export scale ranking among the top of the heat pump industry in China.

"The heat pump industry has developed rapidly in Europe in the past two years, in which Chinese enterprises have played an important role," Liu said.

Cinda Securities noted the European heat pump market would likely achieve a compound annual growth of about 18 percent in the next five years.

"In the future, we will continue to embrace the green industry with our advantages in green manufacturing, implement energy conservation and emission reduction in all aspects of production, transportation, and products, and bring more efficient and energy-saving comprehensive solutions to our global customers," Liu said.