CGC Releases The State of the Canadian Geothermal Heat Pump Industry 2011

Industry report presents provincial installation statistics for the first time

MONTREAL, Feb. 17, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition (CGC), Canada's national industry association for geothermal heat pump technology, announces the release of an extensive statistical report entitled The State of the Canadian Geothermal Heat Pump Industry 2011 - Industry Survey and Market Analysis. The document is available on the CGC website at www.geoexchange.ca.

The State of the Canadian Geothermal Heat Pump Industry 2011 - Industry Survey and Market Analysis is the second document published by the CGC to present a comprehensive, credible picture of the Canadian geothermal heat pump industry. This year's report presents for the first time ever provincial installation statistics over a four-year period, 2007 to 2010.

The report shows that the market for geothermal heat pumps grew by more than 40% in 2005 and by more than 60% annually in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The market increased by an additional 5% in 2009 before declining in 2010, the first decline since 2003. Early estimates tend to show that the markets stabilized in 2011 for Canada as a whole.

Together, Ontario, Québec and British Columbia represented about 87% of the GHP market in 2010 compared to 76% in 2007. Manitoba is the only Canadian province which experienced annual market decline in each of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In fact, the market for GHP crashed by 64% between 2007 and 2010, by far the worst performance of all Canadian provinces.

"As more statistics become available, and as our analytical capacity improves, the CGC is increasingly in a position to draw interprovincial comparison and identify or qualify market failures and market successes" said Denis Tanguay, CGC's President and CEO. The CGC analytical skills and industry knowledge have already proven to be of great help in assisting provincial government in their policy and regulatory work. The CGC will soon publish a technology roadmap for geothermal heat pump along with policy recommendations. The present statistical report is timely.

The statistics presented in the report have been gathered from different sources over a period of more than five years. Sources include three CGC annual industry surveys and market data collected directly from close to 500 installation companies through the CGC Company Qualification Market Survey. It also includes the CGC certification database, which includes technical information on over 16,000 residential systems installed by more than 800 companies. Additional information was taken from selected companies' annual reports as well as from documents published by government agencies.

The Canadian GeoExchange Coalition acts as the industry catalyst to unite private and public sector stakeholders, and to expand the market for geothermal heat pump technology in Canada. As the nexus of information, training, certification, standards and public awareness, we work to build the necessary infrastructure to foster Canadian industry growth. Website: www.geoexchange.ca

Highlights

• After many years of sustained growth, the Canadian geothermal heat pump industry experienced a significant set-back in 2010 with an estimated decline of roughly 28%. Early estimates tend to show that the markets re-bounded and stabilized in 2011 for Canada as a whole.
• Together, Ontario, Québec and British Columbia represented about 87% of the GHP market in 2010 compared to 76% in 2007.
• Manitoba is the only Canadian province which experienced annual market decline in each of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In fact, the market for GHP crashed by 64% between 2007 and 2010, by far the worst performance of all Canadian provinces.
• Ontario, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick lead in terms of units installed per capita. Boasting the highest number of units per capita in 2007, Manitoba dropped to fourth place the year after, a position held by the province since, now followed very closely by British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Québec.
• Looking at the industry average over 2008-2010, 56.4% of residential systems had a horizontal ground heat exchanger (GHX) and 24.2% had a vertical GHX. Open loop systems follow with 13% of residential applications while pond and lake loops account for 6.4%.
• In Canada, thousands of GHP systems have been installed in existing homes since 2007. For the years 2008 to 2010 taken together, these systems replaced heating oil and electricity in nearly equal proportions of 39.2% and 39.1% respectively. Propane displacement follows with 10.1%, natural gas with 7.2% and a combination of wood, wood pellets, heating oil and electricity and fuel oil and wood in 4.5% of cases.
• In 2010 for example, the average vertical GHP system sold for $7886 per ton in Canada compared to $6116 per ton for a GHP system with a horizontal GHX. The total average price for a 4-ton system is $31,544 for a GHP system with a vertical GHX and $24,464 for a system with a horizontal GHX.
• About 80% of all GHP systems sold in Canada are equipped with an auxiliary heating unit.
• One important heat pump brand lost significant market share between 2008 and 2010. This major decline in a growing market benefited smaller suppliers while the other top brands maintained their positions or slightly improved.
• In Canada, 20% of all the residential GHP installations are done by 9 companies and 50% of all installations by 47 companies.
• In recent years, the Canadian GHP industry became generally more competitive as manufacturing and distribution capacity improved in a fast-growing market environment.

For inquiries:
Denis Tanguay [phone], extension 24
[email protected]