Aiming to replace fossil fuel-based heat sources in industry

'The technology developed by Heaten could make a significant contribution to improving energy efficiency in industry – an increasingly important issue in today's energy market,' says Jon Arne Rasmussen, Senior Adviser at our Agder office.

More than 50 per cent of global energy consumption goes towards heat production, and almost 20 per cent of this is used for industrial heating. According to SINTEF, Norwegian industry alone generates surplus heat each year equivalent to 10 per cent of the country's total energy consumption. This heat is released into the environment and lost, making surplus heat a vast, untapped resource.

‘If the world is to have a chance of meeting the global climate targets and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030, industries worldwide must become more energy-efficient. We have responded to this challenge with our heat pump. It reuses surplus heat from industrial processes instead of releasing it back into the environment,’ says Trine Robstad, Head of Media and Brand at Heaten.

We strongly believe that technology will play a key role in decarbonising industry.

'The industrial heat pump can play a key role in making industrial processes less dependent on fossil fuels and reducing electricity costs in a challenging market,' Rasmussen emphasises.

In 2021, we awarded Heaten NOK 13 million through our Environmental Technology Scheme. The grant shows that we consider the product a sound, sustainable solution to an environmental challenge.

‘That is certainly the case here. Heaten needed support for early-stage development and had strong investors on board. The team and its plans for the future look promising, and we look forward to following the component testing and demonstration of the solution,’ says Rasmusssen.

In addition to financial support, we at Innovation Norway Agder have provided advisory and guidance, including input on project plans and introductions to other organisations in the business support system.

'Our contribution and support have been crucial in enabling the project to develop and build our first pilot heat pump. Having an operational pilot installation is essential for future commercial success,' says Robstad.

The challenge the company faced was that the industrial heat was at too low a temperature for further use with conventional technology.

'We have developed heat pump technology that takes low-grade waste heat and raises its temperature to produce high-grade heat at megawatt scale, reaching up to 200°C. Only then can it be reused in industry. This means that many industries can move away from fossil fuels and reduce their CO2 emissions significantly compared with today,' says Robstad.

The technology creates a circular solution that improves energy efficiency and can significantly accelerate the decarbonisation of industry. In time, the heat pump could replace the fossil-fuel heat sources currently used in industry and make a substantial contribution to reducing global CO2 emissions.

The heat pump is now rapidly entering a European market eager for energy-saving, climate-smart solutions. The first pilot unit will be built in autumn 2022 and completed in Germany. After testing, it will be delivered to pilot customers in the first half of 2023, before small-scale production of additional units begins.

'We can already see that we have entered the market at the right time, and we are receiving a huge number of enquiries from well-known companies in several European countries – mainly Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy,' says Robstad.

Developing this kind of solution for the energy sector requires unique engineering expertise. Heaten's founding team, Geir Robstad and Harald Nes Rislå, have specialist expertise in the field and have brought together a strong team.

'In 2020, we acquired the rights to Viking Heat Engines and established Heaten AS. Since then, we have built a strong international team with extensive experience in the field and entered into a strategic partnership with AVL, the world's largest engine development company,' says Robstad.

Heaten has also attracted strong backing from investors. In January 2021, Heaten secured an investment of NOK 60 million from Nysnø, Shell Ventures and Azolla Ventures.