Panasonic Corp. said Oct. 11 that it began production of a residential air-to-water heat pump at its Panasonic AVC Networks Czech, s.r.o. unit, in a move to boost its European air conditioning business.

The Aquarea heat pump uses energy from the air to provide heating, cooling and hot water, offering an alternative to conventional fossil fuel or electric systems.

The production facility in the Czech Republic will increase Panasonic's ability to meet growing demand for energy-efficient heating and cooling across the region, the company said in a statement. It will also enable a more localized and agile approach to product design in line with European regulations.

Panasonic previously exported Aquarea units to Europe from its Malaysian factory.

According to Panasonic's mid-term plan, the new facility will gradually increase its production capacity to 40,000 Aquarea units yearly.

"We've seen year-on-year growth in demand for our Aquarea air to water products and I'm looking forward to satisfying that demand over Europe," said Enrique Vilamitjana, managing director at Panasonic Appliances Air-Conditioning Europe.