Rinnai Australia has introduced two new renewable energy product technologies designed to support Australia’s clean energy mix future.

In a world first, Rinnai Japan has successfully developed a continuous flow hot water system for the domestic market, which uses 100% hydrogen combustion technology and has zero carbon emissions. Rinnai plans to start demonstration testing in October 2022 in South Australia and Victoria to help drive the consideration of hydrogen as a residential energy source.

The second innovative product development is the new Geoflo Hybrid 22 geothermal and inverter hybrid system, which is fully designed and manufactured in Australia. The Geoflo Hybrid 22 system utilises the latest Rinnai technology to harness abundant free renewable underground energy to deliver energy efficient heating and cooling all year round, while also diverting surplus energy to the generation of essentially free hot water to the home.

“This marks a significant milestone in Australia’s shift towards a cleaner and more sustainable energy mix future, as Rinnai delivers a real solution, not a fanciful promise,” Rinnai Australia managing director Greg Ellis said.

“The advancements seen here firmly define Rinnai’s ambitions and commitment to work to provide commercial and domestic appliances, which not only support the requirements of a changing energy future, but importantly, deliver the trusted reliability and performance that the market expects from the Rinnai brand.”

In attendance for Rinnai’s major announcement at Rinnai Australia’s state-of-the-art R and D facility was the Victorian Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change – Lily D’Ambrosio, who said, "New investments in innovation are vital to reaching net zero by 2050 while delivering new jobs and future industries. The technologies launched today will help give Victorian households and businesses options as we map the best pathway to net zero, supported by our nation-leading $1.6 billion investment in clean energy.”

Dr Alan Finkel, Australia’s chief scientist from 2016 to 2020 and chair of the Australian National Hydrogen Strategy adopted in 2019, added, “Australia is blessed with abundant renewable energy, but the key to transitioning from fossil fuels is the demand side. By introducing water heaters to run on 100% hydrogen, Rinnai is making it practical for homeowners to greatly reduce their carbon footprint while still enjoying the convenience of rapid gas heated hot water.”

Product roadmap

These two new key innovative product developments are part of the ‘Rinnai Global Innovation Manifesto’, which seeks to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050, and join Rinnai’s rapidly growing renewable energy product portfolio, which already includes solar hot water and high COP heat pump systems that are widely used across Australian homes to deliver highly energy efficient and sustainable appliance solutions.