New innovation boost for sustainable heating systems
EBP Schweiz AG from Zurich is investing in Nullpunkt AG via EBP Ventures. The young company from Oberengstringen has developed a heat pump with ice storage that scores points for its compact design, efficiency and attractive price.
EBP Schweiz AG has acquired a stake in Nullpunkt AG via its venture capital investor EBP Ventures. The start-up from Oberengstringen has developed an innovative ice storage heat pump system and launched it on the market this August following a trial run with a prototype last year. “With this investment, EBP Switzerland is not only strengthening its own innovation network, but also making a concrete contribution to the energy transition in the building sector,” Simon Hess, Partner and Head of Energy Technology at EBP Switzerland, is quoted as saying in a corresponding post by the Zurich-based consulting and engineering company on LinkedIn.
The system from Nullpunkt AG consists of an external heat exchanger, an ice storage tank and a heat pump. The outdoor heat exchanger extracts energy from the ambient air during the day. This is used to melt the ice in the ice storage tank. When this water freezes again, thermal energy is released. This is extracted from the storage tank by the heat pump and used to heat the house. Compared to other ice storage systems, the system from Nullpunkt has a more compact design, “high energy efficiency and an attractive price-performance ratio”, writes EBP.
Nullpunkt’s current programme includes further development to include more powerful systems and additional regeneration sources. “A competent partner such as EBP will also provide us with the right technical impetus to establish Nullpunkt on the market in the long term,” Nullpunkt CEO Thomas Degelo is quoted as saying in the article.