[DigitalToday reporter Dae-geon Seok] Samsung Electronics is moving its production base for heat pump boilers from overseas to South Korea. Samsung Electronics said on Sunday it built a 2,132-square-metre production line for its 'EHS heat pump boiler' at the second campus of its Gwangju plant and began trial production on Aug. 19.

The company plans to verify process and equipment stability and comprehensively assess finished product performance and quality, before entering full mass production from late September. Samsung Electronics is the first heat pump manufacturer participating in the domestic heating electrification programme to shift overseas production back to South Korea.

The new line can produce more than 100,000 units of the 'EHS heat pump boiler' a year, and all output will be sold domestically. Samsung Electronics plans to increase the domestic share not only in finished products but also in key component production and the overall manufacturing process to contribute to shared growth with partner companies and revitalisation of the local economy. The company said the Gwangju plant, where the production line is located, has manufacturing technology and quality control know-how built up from producing premium home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners.

The 'EHS heat pump boiler' uses heat in the air and electricity to provide indoor heating and hot water, and is a high-efficiency heating solution that generates nearly five times as much heat as the electrical energy it consumes. It has higher energy efficiency and lower carbon emissions than fossil fuel-based boilers, and energy costs can also be reduced if households use renewable energy such as rooftop solar together.

Samsung Electronics is supplying products this year by taking part in Jeju’s heating electrification rollout project, and plans to increase supply in the second rollout project in the second half of the year, which covers 1,418 households. It is currently verifying heating and hot water performance and energy efficiency in real residential environments across the country, including Yangpyeong, Chungju and Namhae. On Jeju and at Samsung C&T’s Housing Research Institute in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, it is demonstrating its 'EHS All-in-One' solution that provides cooling, heating and hot water in one system to verify its applicability from detached houses to multi-family housing such as apartments.

Lim Seong-taek (임성택), a vice president at Samsung Electronics’ DA Business Division, said the company will respond more actively to the heating electrification trend by building a domestic production system for heat pump products and accelerate expansion of its heat pump business. He said it will continue to introduce solutions optimised for South Korea’s residential environment by combining heat pump technology accumulated in global markets with domestic manufacturing and service competitiveness.