HVAC&R Japan 2026: JEXSYS Launches 130°C High-Temperature Hot Water CO₂ Heat Pump

JEXSYS, formerly known as Nihon Netsugen Systems, has launched a high-temperature CO₂ (R744) heat pump for the Asia–Pacific region capable of producing up to 130°C (266°F) pressurized hot water for industrial processing applications.

The standard unit offers a heating capacity of 500kW (142.2TR) with a COP of 4.8. However, JEXSYS has the flexibility to manufacture larger capacities depending on a client’s needs, Katsuhiko Harada, the company’s President, told NaturalRefrigerants.com at the HVAC&R Japan 2026 show. The event, held January 27‒30 in Tokyo, was organized by the The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association.

“Our industrial refrigeration customers always have a boiler to meet the food and beverage industry’s requirement for 120‒130°C [248‒266°F] sanitary hot water,” Harada said. “Boilers cause a headache for two reasons: the price of fossil fuel is going up and really high CO₂e emissions. Therefore, I think introducing a CO₂ heat pump in the Japanese market is very important.”

Development/reaction: To replace boilers in the food/beverage industry, JEXSYS first attempted to promote its ammonia (R717) heat pump. However, it did not meet the industry’s needs, with hot water temperatures topping out around 80‒90°C (176‒194°F), according to Harada.

• Drawing on its experience producing CO₂ refrigeration equipment, JEXSYS spent a year developing a CO₂ heat pump with the aim of producing 130°C pressurized hot water ‒ a goal it achieved at the end of 2025.
• The unit produces 4.2 metric tons of hot water per hour for industrial applications requiring temperatures above 100°C (212°F), including heating and melting of raw materials, sterilization, cleaning and drying.
• Although the main purpose of the unit is heating, it also produces cold water, according to Harada, making it eligible for the Japanese government’s subsidy schemes for heat recovery in the food industry.

Gaining experience: JEXSYS launched its first CO₂ condensing units in 2015, with early sales catered to small, privately owned cold storage companies.

• “So far we’ve installed 760 CO₂ units in 240 completed projects,” Harada said, adding that the company’s docket for the next two years includes providing CO₂ refrigeration units for “big” logistic centers owned by real estate-investing companies.
• It has CO₂ equipment operating in Malaysia and the Philippines. Its five-year-old installation in Malaysia supplies fantastic energy savings with no reliability issues, Harada said.
• In 2023 the manufacturer opened a new factory in Shiga, Japan, which doubled its CO₂ equipment-production capacity to meet the growing year-on-year demand.

Business strategy: Looking ahead, Harada believes CO₂ refrigeration and cooling will eventually mature and reach a growth ceiling, making it necessary for JEXSYS to develop a new business to sustain long-term growth.

• Entering the heating market with a CO₂ heat pump aligns with the manufacturer’s growth strategy.
• “We expect this new business area to grow in the future, just as CO₂ refrigeration has,” Harada said.

Quotable: “We’ve been talking to several potential customers about a high-temperature CO₂ heat pump for two or three years,” Harada said. “They are waiting for this launch,” he added, indicating that JEXSYS expects to sell 10 units in 2026.