The Greater Manchester Japan Steering Group including UK Government and Manchester City Council delegates visited Daikin Industries, Ltd. headquarters as well as Daikin’s global research and development hotspot, the Daikin Technology and Innovation Center (TIC), in Osaka, Japan.
Daikin’s TIC specialises in developing innovative renewable energy technologies. The base focuses on Daikin’s core technologies including heat pumps, energy inverters, and fluorochemical technologies – while integrating them with controls and sensor technology to ensure they are fit for purpose.
The delegation was briefed on the technologies being developed at TIC and toured the testing laboratory. At the headquarters, the group solidified decarbonisation plans currently being worked on by Daikin and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) with Masatsugu Minaka, Senior Executive Officer of Daikin Industries and Chairman of Daikin Europe. The list of delegates includes the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, and the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Japan, Greg Clark MP. The visit forms part of Daikin’s mission to ramp up Greater Manchester’s decarbonisation in partnership with GMCA.
Daikin and GMCA have been working together for more than ten years towards GMCA’s target of becoming carbon neutral by 2038. Earlier this year, Daikin UK signed a landmark memorandum with GMCA for the region to become an area of innovation for new net-zero technologies and services, with the aim of boosting investment and job creation in the city-region.
Daikin is now implementing trials of retrofitting measures and low-carbon heating technologies, including up to 1,000 air-source heat pumps across Greater Manchester by 2025.
Iain Bevan, Commercial Manager for Daikin UK, said: “Greater Manchester has an exciting vision to make the city carbon-neutral by 2038, and the ambition to break new boundaries in the drive to decarbonisation – values we share at Daikin. This delegation will be an exciting exchange of ideas and plans which will benefit the residents of Greater Manchester – and hopefully across the UK – for years to come.
Masatsugu Minaka, Senior Executive Officer of Daikin Industries and Chairman of Daikin Europe, said: “At Daikin we have almost 100 years of experience in heat pump technology and are a leading player in the European heat pump heating market. We are committed to leading energy for change and are excited to see how developments in Japan and our know-how can play a key role in the decarbonisation of Greater Manchester, the wider UK and Europe as a whole.”
