Finland saves 80,000 homes’ worth of energy through waste heat recovery

Calefa's production plant in Ikaalinen, Finland. Photo: Calefa
Calefa's production plant in Ikaalinen, Finland. Photo: Calefa

Industrial companies have long been intrigued by the potential of heat pumps. Yet they often fear that heat pumps just aren’t hot enough to meet their needs.

This has led to significant untapped potential for industrial decarbonisation through heat pumps and all they can do in terms of recovering waste heat.

Luckily, new technology developed by a Finnish company called Calefa Oy addresses these challenges – and it’s proven it works, saving enough energy to power 80,000 European homes since 2013!

This has also led to a reduction of 192,066,691 kg of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent of taking about 42,000 passenger vehicles off the road for an entire year.

“We aim to enable efficient energy production for industry and energy producers that does not harm the environment. Often, the greatest opportunity lies in energy that has already been harnessed for processes, but the excess heat is not reused effectively”, Petri Vuori, CEO of Calefa Oy says.

So, how does it work? By integrating advanced heat pump technology with sophisticated heat recovery methods, Calefa offers a modular, customisable heat pump solution to meet various industrial needs.

The AmbiHeat systems can simultaneously utilise multiple heat sources, including geothermal energy, groundwater heat, and sunlight. However, its most valuable application lies in recovering waste heat from industrial processes.

In Finland, the AmbiHeat technology has been successfully employed to recover and repurpose waste heat from for example timber production, glue and chemical manufacturing, and wastewater treatment.

With Calefa’s heat pump technology, it is possible to produce output temperatures of up to 120°C degrees, thereby meeting the industry’s requirements for high temperature levels, for example in drying processes.

“Finnish industry has a wide potential for heat recovery and reuse. By providing a tailored solution for all industry needs we can empower the industries to reduce their energy costs and CO2 emissions”, comments Petri Vuori from Calefa Oy.

“We are proud to make the Finnish energy system more efficient and less dependent on combustion-based energy production methods”, he adds.

More information

Have you got a heat pump story to share? Let us know! sarah.azau@ehpa.org

Related articles

These days we use our phones for everything. Communicating, banking, taking photos, booking tickets, doing the...
In the heart of Sint-Truiden in eastern Belgium stands a remarkable apartment building called Griso, comprisin...
Hidden beneath the streets of Budapest lie two ‘heat centre’ rooms which provide heating and cooling for much ...
French company Saint Jean has been producing pasta since 1935. With a staff of 450 and five manufacturing plan...