Bosch suspends heat pump factory project in Poland
German conglomerate Bosch has announced the suspension of its heat pump factory project in Dobromierz, Lower Silesia. The decision is driven by increasing economic and political uncertainty in Europe, as well as demand forecasts falling short of earlier expectations.
Bosch stated that it is halting its planned investment in the new heat pump manufacturing plant, which had been valued at PLN 1.2 billion. The factory was to be located in the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone in the municipality of Dobromierz, with operations originally scheduled to begin between late 2025 and early 2026.
Plans for the plant were first announced in April 2023, at a time when the Polish heat pump market was growing by several dozen percent year-on-year. EU-level forecasts projected around 30 million installations across the bloc within a decade.
According to earlier assumptions, the facility was expected to create 500 jobs by 2027. The investment had been presented as one of Bosch’s key projects for expanding heat pump production capacity in Europe.
It now turns out that the forecasts were overly optimistic. Market dynamics have resulted in significantly lower demand, prompting Bosch’s management to put the project on hold. At the same time, the company maintains that in the longer term demand will increase, driven by climate targets — at which point the plans may be revisited.
“[…] Bosch Group has decided to suspend the start of construction of the heat pump plant in Dobromierz, Lower Silesia. The facility was intended to complement Bosch’s existing European heat pump production network, which includes factories in Portugal, Germany and Sweden. […] Growing political and economic uncertainty in Europe is negatively affecting the European heat pump market. Its growth is now expected to be slower than previously assumed,” said Magdalena Kołomańska, Head of Corporate Communications for Bosch in Poland, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency.
