Uniper and Evonik are currently commissioning a highly innovative high temperature heat pump that will now supply around 1,000 households in the Ruhr region (Germany) with district heating. It uses low temperature industrial waste heat from chemical production at Evonik’s Herne site and transforms it to a temperature level suitable for district heating using pioneering technology. As project partner, Uniper was responsible for financing, planning, installation and operation of the facility and was supported in implementation by Evonik. Via the district heating company Iqony, the heat pump feeds up to 1.5 megawatts of heat into the district heating network.
The project avoids up to 1,750 tons of CO₂ per year in regional heat supply – emissions that were previously caused by the use of fossil fuels. At the same time, Evonik benefits from supplying the heat: until now, electricity costs for electric fans in cooling towers were part of the energy bill. These units are used to cool down heated cooling water from chemical production processes.
Technically, the new high temperature heat pump in Herne works in a similar way to a refrigerator – only in reverse. Evonik’s production facilities in Herne require cooling water for operation, which is heated to around 25 to 30 degrees Celsius during processes. This waste heat is no longer left unused; instead, the heat pump raises the temperature further – to the level of the district heating network, up to 130 degrees Celsius.
