LG Electronics, a unit of South Korea’s LG Corp., has launched a pilot project to test heat pumps coordinated through power-to-heat (P2H) technology at an apartment complex on Jeju Island, off South Korea’s southern coast.

Under the proposed configuration, the P2H system will coordinate heat pumps in individual apartments with a central air-source heat pump and hot-water storage. When surplus or lower-cost renewable electricity is available, the central heat pump will convert it into thermal energy and charge a shared hot-water tank. The stored heat can later supply domestic hot water, while heat pumps in each apartment independently provide cooling and underfloor heating.

“The centralized P2H hot-water system reduces space requirements in individual units by using a shared supply system instead of installing bulky hot-water tanks in every home,” the company said in a statement. “The central air-source heat pump and large-capacity hot-water tank will be installed in unused space on the ground floor.”

The building has one basement level and seven floors above ground, with 12 occupied apartments. The partners plan to complete the system design by October, begin construction and launch full-scale operational testing after the project is completed in December.

The project partners are Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Jeju Development Corp. and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH).

LG Electronics will oversee the heat-pump system design, supply high-efficiency equipment, conduct commissioning and maintenance, and assess performance using operational data. Jeju Province will oversee regulatory changes and policy coordination, while Jeju Development Corp. will provide the demonstration building and manage system operations. KITECH will lead the P2H system design and data analysis.

The demonstration is intended to assess both technical performance and economics.