On the 9th of April, policymakers discussed with representatives of industry, civil society and researchers about the next policy actions needed to seize the opportunities that high capacity and high-temperature heat pumps can provide to production processes in many industrial applications.

The occasion to present the already existing potentialities of the industrial and commercial heat pumps was offered by the breakfast debate: The overlooked potential of heat pumps, the key-technology opening the door for the decarbonisation of the energy-intensive industry, organized by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), in collaboration with SME Europe and hosted by MEP Dr. Paul Rübig of the EPP Group.

Dr. Veronika Wilk, coordinator of DryFiciency, presented the latest project developments. In particular, she disclosed that the two closed loop high-temperature heat pumps for industrial drying processes capable of reaching 160 C are now being built and will soon be integrated into the production processes of Agrana and Wienerberger. “Finally, we are going from paper to reality”, said Veronika, who also added that the investment of such heat pumps “shall be paid back in 3 to 4 years in countries with favorable boundary conditions”, while “significantly reducing CO2 emissions in several industrial sectors”.

During the event representatives of the industry revealed that both big companies and SMEs are turning to renewables when restructuring their facilities. This process is not driven only by environmental concerns of industry managers, but also by economic reason, as investments are paying back. In particular, participants described existing heat pump technologies as key enablers for heating and cooling industrial processes. In fact, if fully deployed, these solutions could already supply approx. 10% of the total industrial energy demand.

The video of the event is available on the SME Europe Facebook Page.

Author: 

Eirini Litina

Communications Manager

European Heat Pump Association AISBL

eirini.litina@ehpa.org