Supporters claim the technology’s flexibility means it can mimic the performance and thus displace a significant slice of Europe’s reliance on fossil fuel-fired boilers.

These remain the dominant source of heat generation for huge swaths of processing industries ranging from distillers, dairy, paper and pharmaceutical processors up to clothing, metals, glass and cement makers.

Heat is needed at different temperatures and pressures to not only manufacturer products but propel drying, evaporation and fermentation.

In the case of Pelagia, higher temperatures are critical, for example for turning the skin and bones left behind after filleting fish, into a watery soup which is then dried and transformed into a fine, dry powder for animal feed.

The trials of the new technology fall under an initiative called SUSHEAT which is supported by Horizon Europe, a Euro 95.5 billion research and innovation programme aimed at helping the European Union (EU) to meet climate goals and boost competitiveness.

The EU has the ambition under the Paris Climate Agreement and its Green New Deal to cut emissions by 55 per cent by 2030 and to hit climate neutrality in 2050.

According to a recent industrial heat pump report by the German Energy Agency around 20 per cent of the EU’s direct emissions come from industry.

World-wide, around 22 per of global energy is used to make heat that is producing over 40 per cent of total carbon dioxide emissions according to a paper in a journal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Boosting supplies of renewable energy will be crucial but a big step up in energy savings will also be key. While industrial heat pumps, able to recycle waste heat up to 100 C plus are making inroads, higher temperature heat pumps will be needed to go further and faster.

This is where SUSHEAT comes in. It has mobilized centres of academic and private sector excellence in the EU, Norway and the United Kingdom.

The approach here is to combine the high temperature heat pump being tested by Pelagia and made by Norwegian company Enerin with a novel heat storage system inspired by the human lung developed by the University of Lleida, Spain.

Meanwhile, the plan is to also link the storage system and the high temperature heat pump to concentrated solar so it can generate free heat for processing, or for storage, when the sun shines. It will be managed by AI or “digital twin”.

Essentially, heat is being switched back and forth between powering processing needs or put into storage for later use when the factory is operating at full steam.

The overall goal is to ensure there is a tech package relevant to different countries.

SUSHEAT Aims to Make Cutting Heat Waste Work in Different Countries

Silvia Trevisan, assistant professor in Thermal Technologies for Industrial Decarbonization at KTH—the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden—and part of SUSHEAT, said: “In a country like Italy where electricity is expensive but there is a lot of sun, you will use more concentrated solar heat and produce less from the heat pump.”

“In a country like Norway, where there is less sun, but electricity is cheap and green, you can deploy the industrial heat pump more,” added Dr Trevisan.

Arne Høeg, Enerin’s CEO, believes they can also help “balance” the European electricity grid.

Grid operators in Europe, but also in the United States and the United Kingdom, have been struggling in recent years to meet the demands for renewable energy connections.

Some renewable energy firms have been waiting for 10 years or more to supply clean wind or solar energy to homes, offices, electric vehicles and industry.

” You could meet the decarbonization needs and supply all the heating requirements of European industry with electricity—but you would need 2,000 terawatts of new renewable power generation. That is quite a lot and in what time frame would it be possible?”

“But if we fully deploy low and high temperature industrial heat pumps, then maybe we only need a third or a half of that new renewable energy generation and we would need less grid capacity to be built. I think this is an economic and practical win all round, while helping to meet climate targets quicker”

Arne Høeg, CEO Enerin and an industrial heat pump entrepreneur

Even Higher Temperature Industrial Heat Pumps Coming

The story does not end there. Enerin and KTH have joined forces with the Norwegian firm the Kyoto Group to take another step forward.

They will be linking up a device called Heat Cube or ‘thermal battery’, which stores energy in molten salts, to a new prototype version of the Enerin pump that could scale waste heat up to 400 C. It is part of another Horizon Europe project called I-UPS.

Some sectors of industry need even higher heat temperatures of 1,000 to 2,000 C. Industrial heat pumps are unlikely to ever meet those needs as they become less efficient scaling to these super high temperatures.

But Mr Hoeg said for such industries, which include glass or scrap metal recycling and perhaps cement, heat pumps could provide the first 400 C with the remainder from direct electrical heating from renewables.

United States of America Playing Catch Up

And what about the United States? A recent report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) concludes there is a huge untapped potential for industrial heat pumps to deliver a net zero economy by 2050.

It estimates that around 98 per cent of the heat needed by American industry comes currently from burning fossil fuels. But, as much as 44 per cent of that heat is low temperature (<80°C to 150°C); and is often provided by boilers, dryers, and other equipment that can be replaced by heat pump technology that is available today.

The report acknowledges that the United States may be falling behind efforts in Europe and Asia and recommends some near-, mid-, and long-term strategies involving the national, state and local governments working with industry and regulators to help fix this.

It also underlines the need to invest in research and development (R&D) and points to incentives including creating new financial assistance including incentives, tax credits, and grants.

Regarding R&D, “industrial heat pump technology is developing rapidly,” ACEEE research analyst, Hellen Chen, says. “For example, higher temperature heat pumps (>300°C) are beginning to enter the global market, with the U.S. market following closely. Manufacturers are also developing larger capacity heat pumps (>20 MW).”

In fact, “five global manufacturers of IHPs were selected for U.S. federal funds over the past year to scale up domestic manufacturing of industrial heat pumps and components,” ACEEE senior research analyst Andrew Hoffmeister, adds. Supply is rapidly growing while demand is coalescing – what’s needed next are supportive policies and programs for engineering and implementation.”

The German Energy Agency’s report also underlines that EU policy cannot be complacent and calls for incentives to foster more rapid take up including ending fossil fuel subsidies.

Meanwhile the developments in Europe are attracting attention on the other side of the Atlantic. Enerin has been shortlisted for the Empire Technology Prize. It was launched in 2024 by New York State Governor Kathy Hochul. It is focused on ecofriendly solutions that provide heating to super tall buildings like skyscrapers.