Enerin at Hannover Messe
Photo: Tom Hansen / Innovation Norway.
Enerin AS was invited by Innovation Norway to showcase its HoegTemp High-Temperature Heat Pump (HTHP) technology at the Hannover Messe. Norway was the partner country of Germany at the Exhibition which attracted over 150,000 attendees from 150 countries. Enerin’s industrial heat pump aims to contribute to electrification and de-carbonization of industrial process heat using recycled and ambient heat.
“The message that Enerin took to the Hannover Messe is that 24 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions come from industrial heating, currently fired by fossil fuel boilers. The HoegTemp can replace fossil boilers with ease, across many sectors providing thermal heat and steam up to 200 °C. ”
As long as a power and a steam line are available, Enerin’s “plug and play” HoegTemp industrial heat pump can be installed in existing and new plants. Replacing existing fossil fuel boilers (77%) with the heat pump would reduce European energy consumption by 300 TWh, and eliminate 90 million tonnes of CO2 annually, using the average European electricity mix.
European State of Climate report released on opening day
Coinciding with the official opening day of the Hannover Messe, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), together with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), released the 2023 European State of the Climate report (ESOTC 2023).
“The report warns that Europe has been warming twice as fast as the global average, becoming the fastest-warming continent on Earth.”
This highlights the necessity for good sustainable policies, investment and the use of digital technologies and AI to deliver more efficient, effective and clean, renewable energy solutions that combat climate change. Industrial heat pump technologies are now significantly mature to supply reliable thermal energy by capturing and upgrading waste heat, and by utilising renewable energy stored on-site.
Germany, Norway cement energy, business ties
German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, opening the Norway Pavilion on day one of the Hannover Messe. The two leaders visited exhibitors in the Pavilion. Photo: Tom Hansen/Innovation Norway.
During the Hannover Messe, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, discussed energy transformation, including floating wind platforms, hydrogen production, carbon capture, battery cells, green shipping, and AI innovation. The relationship was cemented through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding related to renewable energy and green industry.
This is a good interim measure for oil and gas companies to clean up their act and diversify, as well as deliver energy security, additionally securing European jobs into the future. Despite this, there is an enormous potential for the re-capturing of waste heat in industry that is currently under utilised.
That is why there has been a big campaign from many value chain actors for the European Commission to address heating and cooling in its 2040 climate targets which are aimed at a reduction of the EU’s “net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 relative to 1990”. The US is forging ahead with massive investments in heat pumps announced last year under the Biden-Harris climate plan which is aiming for 100% carbon-, or pollution-free electricity by 2035.
“Bloomberg NEF has predicted that the industrial heating and cooling sectors, which included investment in industrial heat pumps, will become the next $0.5 trillion market.”
Market penetration of heat pumps high in Scandinavia
Enerin’s head office is in Asker, Norway, which is close to Oslo. In Scandinavia, the market penetration of heat pumps is high because there is a better balance between the prices of gas and electricity making electrification attractive considering that the primary energy heat pumps use is electricity.
Industry is committing to industrial heat pumps in line with their sustainability goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. By implementing high-temperature heat pumps, companies can achieve their CO2 targets through efficiency gains provided by the industrial heat pumps. Additionally, they mitigate the risk of having to buy CO2 quotas, to offset emissions, if they pollute beyond their limits.
Scandinavian companies, and factory sites within companies, are ranked according to their energy consumption per unit of raw material processed. This puts sustainability goals beyond greenwashing, and high on the agenda because staff responsible for the sites that do not perform are often not retained.
The attractiveness of the electricity price over gas coupled with the higher energy efficiency delivered by the heat pump is compelling. Moreover, industry and homeowners use apps and AI for power consumption and loading at non-peak times, and additionally can tap into stored renewable energy on site.
Enerin calm and confident
Enerin CEO, Arne Høeg, promoting the company and the Horizon Europe project, SUSHEAT, where Enerin is exploring technologies for renewable-based heating solutions to power industrial processes.
That is why Enerin CEO, Arne Hoeg, is staying calm with the knowledge that the company’s technologies and solutions will be able to deliver better efficiency for industry and buildings. He is of the opinion that the demand for gas will follow the decline of coal, in its downward trajectory, as renewables and thermal energy storage are improved and deployed.
Currently Enerin has three steam generating HoegTemp industrial heat pump installations that are either in place or currently being built, with pre-engineering for a further 14 megawatts planned.
“Heat pumps can be programmed or controlled to utilize the cheapest electricity rates during the day, bringing the price ratio closer to 1, in comparison to gas, while helping to balance the grid and utilize intermittent renewables,” Arne Høeg said in Hannover.
Most heating systems have a degree of energy storage, both in buildings and in industry, which heat pumps can unlock.”
At high temperature lifts, the HoegTemp is the most efficient heat pump on the market, while at lower temperatures the Coefficient of Performance (COP), or energy efficiency, is higher.
Compared to a traditional fossil fuel boiler, which usually has an efficiency of 80% to 90%, the typical customer will experience two to three times less energy consumption than with fossil heating.
Enerin appeals for elimination of C02 emissions
During the week, Enerin VP Software Engineering, Gunnar Vartdal (above), appealed to the audience in the Norwegian Pavilion to join Enerin’s mission to eliminate carbon emissions from industrial heating.
He made the audience aware that almost everything we use and consume in society today comes from high-temperature heat that is energy intensive.
“Most of these factories burn fossil fuels to produce the heat. And after they have used the heat to produce these products, they dump the leftover heat, also called waste heat, into the air as steam,” he explained.
“What if I told you, that we can capture the leftover steam and heat, and at the same time replace the fossil fuels that are burned for heating. This would allow us to produce clean, recycled industrial heat, which is made possible with Enerin’s world-leading HoegTemp HTHP which also delivers energy savings.”
Factory, process engineers search for fossil alternatives
The Enerin stand attracted considerable attention from the media, industrial process engineers, and factory and sustainability managers representing global companies who want to sever their processes from fossil fuel dependency. Companies know that shareholders, banks, and society demand change.