A team at Aston University is working with Kyiv’s National Academy of Sciences on a heat pump able to deal with Ukrainian winters.
The design works with Ukraine’s Soviet-style cast-iron radiators, and can be run on sustainable energy or diesel generators during blackouts. The diesel usage is six times more efficient and cheaper than alternatives.
A 120kw prototype is running at the Academy of Sciences, where it powers up to 80 offices, around a quarter of the building.
Borys Basok, a professor at the academy, said: “This project has helped me focus on something that is an important contribution to Ukraine because people need energy. We are under constant bombardment. We are feeling stressed, we are feeling fear, we are feeling indignation that this is happening to our country because people are dying every day.”
David Lammy, the UK’s foreign secretary said: “This government is proud to be harnessing cutting-edge innovations from businesses and universities right across the UK to help Ukraine rebuild from Russia’s illegal invasion greener and more resilient than ever before.
The project was funded by the UK government from the InnovateUkraine competition, a £16m clean energy project run by the Foreign Office.
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