Large-scale industrial heat pumps
Proven high and low temperature industrial heat pumps for up to 150°C and 70 MWth
Learn more about our heat pump products and references
Industrial heat pumps are an efficient and cost-effective solution for the generation of heat and cold. They lift the temperature by absorbing thermal energy from an existing low-temperature heat source and releasing it to a warmer space. The use of a heat source (e.g., waste heat from industries or renewable heat from nature, like rivers or geothermal sources) enables heat pumps to generate much more heat with a certain amount of electricity, than a simple direct conversion of electric power to heat could do.
As one of the leading manufacturers of industrial heat pumps, we offer technology that has been truly proven over decades, with 50 units delivered in the mid-1980s and more than 6 million cumulative operating hours.
During the next years, heat generation will be electrified and decarbonized step by step, due to the gradual replacement of fossil-fired thermal power plants with renewable energies. Excess capacities of renewable energy can be converted into heat, paving the way to CO2-free heat generation. For modern district heating and cooling or industrial heating applications, our large-scale industrial heat pumps are the best and most efficient solution to convert electricity to heat.
Industrial heat pump configuration for up to 150°C forwarding temp and 70 MWth
Industrial heat pump configuration for up to 100°C forwarding temp and 45 MWth
Learn more about transforming heat production
Sustainable district heating for Berlin, Germany
A new high-temperature industrial heat pump for the cooling center at Potsdamer Platz
Latest industrial heat pump order
From Finspong in Sweden to Mannheim in Germany: MVV commissions its first innovative river heat pump in Mannheim
The new river heat pump from MVV supplies climate-friendly heat from Rhine water to around 3,500 households - One of the largest heat pumps of its kind in Europe.
Basic Principle of Heat Pumps
Heat pumps move thermal energy in the opposite direction of spontaneous heat transfer, by absorbing heat from a cold space and releasing it to a warmer one.
Refrigerants
Siemens Energy’s industrial heat pumps use modern, energy-efficient, safe and non-hazardous working fluids. The refrigerants have negligible environmental impact in all aspects:
- Non-toxic
- Non-corrosive
- Ultra-low global warming potential (GWP)
- No ozone depletion potential (ODP)
As responsible manufacturers, we see refrigerants as a design element of a heat pumps system. We will use the optimum refrigerant for the specific solution.
Potential Heat Sources
Industrial Sources
Natural Sources
Fields of Application
District heating and/or cooling
Efficient use of energy in industries, e.g., food & beverage, chemical, petrochemical & pharmaceutical, pulp & paper
Benefits of industrial heat pumps
- More efficient than direct conversion of electric power to heat
- Simultaneous production of heat and cold due to thermal action
- CO2-free and free of emissions, when power from renewable sources is used
- Low levelized life-cycle cost of heat: Long term economic solution with low CAPEX and OPEX
- Easy to integrate in existing processes and applications
- Proven, reliable technology: Regular heat pumps are commonly available and attached to households. Large industrial heat pumps are being up-scaled and continuously improved and optimised by us.
- Waste heat can be re-used and sold for other purposes, connecting different applications (enabling new business models)
- Dynamic operation: Short ramp rates
- Power grid stabilization: Peak shaving for excess power generation to balance supply and demand, surplus power from renewable sources can be converted into heat
Media and More
Decarbonizing heat: The hot topic we can't ignore
Heat accounts for around half of global energy consumption, contributing 40% of CO2 emissions. On the way to carbon neutrality, we thus can no longer ignore the topic. In an excellent article Christian Hüttl and Norbert Wenn outline the tools to green heat - at home, in buildings and in industry.
Making the most of waste heat
Before the end of 2022, at Potsdamer Platz in the German capital Berlin, a novel hightemperature industrial heat pump will start supplying the city’s district heating system with net-zero heat. This is a pioneering project on the way to decarbonizing heat.
German utility deploys river heat pump to decarbonise heating
Siemens Energy is supplying a large-scale river heat pump to Mannheim-based utility MVV in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The heat pump will use Rhine water as a heat source and, according to Siemens Energy, will be one of the largest heat pumps in Germany.
Project examples
Large-scale, high-temperature industrial heat pump in district heating network
- Customer: Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG
- Solution: Large-scale, high-temperature industrial heat pump of up to 8 MWth, and flow temperatures between 85°C and about 120°C, depending on ambient conditions
- In the project, Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG and we will test the use of this new technology for the first time at Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz to generate green district heating using waste heat and electricity from renewables. The use of the heat pump will provide heat for the district heating network, amounting to about 55 GWh per year, with an estimated annual saving of about 6,500 metric tons of CO₂ emissions and 120,000m³ of cooling water
Large-scale industrial river heat pump for district heating
- Customer: German energy company MVV Energie AG
- Solution: Large-scale heat pump with up to 20 MWth, using water from the river Rhine as a heat source to supply around 3,500 households with district heating
- The new heat pump will help MVV achieve its goal of decarbonizing district heating in Mannheim and the region, enabling the saving of around 10,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year
Climate-neutral district heating and cooling supply
- Solution: Large high-temperature industrial heat pumps with an installed total heating capacity of 420 MWth to optimize the district heating and cooling in Sweden’s capital - Installation includes centralized and decentralized plants from 20 MWth to 125 MWth in multiple locations
- Heat source: Sewage water and seawater - Cooling operation flexibility during summers with low heat demand
- In operation since 1980s, with outstanding availability, operation for the next 20 years planned