Heating, ventilation and air conditioning specialist Atlantic is reinternalizing skills. The French group (13,000 employees, 3 billion euros in net turnover) is finalizing an investment of 75 million euros to create or expand five R&D centers attached to factories and dedicated to climate engineering, mainly in the segment of the heat pump (PAC).
“When the market was emerging, we had partnerships. As it develops, we are taking matters into our own hands.”explains Baptiste Hermenier, the marketing manager. Four of the R&D sites concerned are located in France. Those of Billy-Berclau (Pas-de-Calais), specialized in the development of domestic heat pumps, and of Boz (Ain), around products dedicated to the collective market, are creations. The other two, in Meyzieu (Rhône), on ventilation and air treatment products, and in La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), where an electronics expertise center is located, have been enlarged. In the United Kingdom, the Hull center will focus on the environmental performance of heat pumps.
A bad time
Atlantic is reinvesting while the heat pump industry is going through a rough patch. In France, between January and August, sales of air-water heat pumps fell by 46% compared to the same period in 2023 and those of air-air heat pumps by 15%, according to the Uniclima union. Solar thermal (- 35%), wood-energy boilers (- 69%) and thermodynamic water heaters (- 7%) are also struggling, following the modifications made in 2023 and 2024 to the system of ‘MaPrimeRénov renovation aid’. Atlantic is betting on innovation to reignite the flame.
You are reading an article from L’Usine Nouvelle 3736 – November 2024
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Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
