From one of Germany’s largest paper factories to a metal processing plant for the beauty industry in Spain: how can heat pumps recover excess heat?
On 26 November, three EU-funded projects – PUSH2HEAT, SPIRIT, and META BUILD – brought together experts to discuss innovative ways industrial and urban systems can collaborate to improve energy efficiency and achieve decarbonisation.
The webinar, hosted by the European Heat Pump Association, demonstrated how large-scale heat pumps can transform waste heat into a valuable resource, fostering a circular energy system.
This is already happening at the Weissenborn mill, one of Germany’s largest paper processing facilities, which produces around 100,000 tonnes of paper per year.
The case study, presented by Reuven Paitazoglou from the Fraunhofer Institute, showcased how high-temperature heat pumps have been used to recover waste heat.
The result? Significant energy savings, with natural gas consumption down by 453,000 cubic metres and annual CO₂ emissions cut by 231 tonnes.
Yet, the innovative role of industrial heat pumps goes beyond individual applications.
Here, a process called industrial symbiosis comes into play, introduced in the presentation by Lieven Demolder from the University of Ghent.
It explores the creation of networks where waste heat or by-products from one industry serve as inputs for another, promoting resource efficiency. However, Demolder warned that achieving such collaboration requires not only technical solutions but also dedicated policy frameworks, infrastructure, and financial incentives.
Bridging industries and urban centres through industrial-urban symbiosis was the subject of the webinar’s last presentation. Laura Alonso Ojanguren of Tecnalia Innovation & Research shared an innovative Spanish case study, where waste heat from a district heating network, was upgraded via high-temperature heat pumps to produce steam for a metal processing plant producing cosmetic and perfume caps in the Catalonia region.
This systemdemonstrated the potential of integrating urban energy systems with industrial processes. The project saved 13,000 megawatts of thermal energy annually and reduced CO₂ emissions by 1,200 tonnes.
Whether electrically or thermally driven, large heat pumps can be adapted to various applications. The demo sites presented during the webinar serve as blueprints for further projects across Europe and beyond.
To learn more about the role of industrial heat pumps in the paper industry, read our report with the Confederation of the European Paper Industries.
To dive deeper into the role of heat pumps for waste heat recovery, visit the PUSH2HEAT, SPIRIT, and META BUILD websites.
