This year, industrial waste heat from Evonik is to be used to supply district heating to Uniper customers in the Ruhr region. Representatives of Evonik and Uniper met at Uniper Wärme GmbH in Gelsenkirchen to sign the official start of the project.
Uniper is initially installing an innovative high-temperature heat pump at Evonik's Herne site as part of a pilot project, making use of the local conditions: as an above-ground district heating pipeline from Uniper already runs through the site, it is possible to feed district heating into the grid from here without any major modifications.
"I am delighted that this project marks another milestone for us on our heat transformation path towards reducing CO2 emissions. With the start of this pilot project, we are also ensuring security of supply for our district heating customers in the future. Together with Evonik, we are taking an exciting and challenging step towards the decarbonization of our heat generation," says Managing Director Jenny Banczyk, Uniper Wärme GmbH.
"With this project, we are pioneering the use of an innovative high-temperature heat pump with a temperature increase of over 100°C. This is used to recover industrial low-temperature waste heat and helps to provide additional sustainable heat for the customers of our district heating network. A total of up to 1.5 megawatts of heat output is fed into the district heating network. The intelligent integration of the technology into the district heating system and coupling with the electricity market is the key to efficient sector coupling of electricity and heat and to the decarbonization of the district heating sector. We are confident that this project will serve as a role model and represent a building block for the success of the heating transition," says Arne Hauner, Director of Innovation at Uniper.
The project is an interplay of various components: As with the operation of almost all industrial plants, the production facilities at the Herne site also generate waste heat in varying quantities. The cooling water required in the processes heats up in the plants and now serves as a heat source. The waste heat is not released into the environment unused, instead it is raised to the required temperature level of over 100°C for the district heating network by the high-temperature heat pump and with the help of renewable energy. Around 1,000 households in Herne benefit from the heat pump. The CO2 savings amount to around 1,750 tons per year.
Dr. Rainer Stahl, Site Manager of Evonik in Herne, emphasizes: "With our TORTE project - technical options for recovering thermal energy - we are making a contribution in the spirit of sustainability and are pleased to have found a partner in Uniper who can and wants to use our waste heat sensibly to benefit the municipal heat supply in Herne.
We recently received the first prize of the "Responsible Care Initiative" of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) for the sustainable and economical use of energy. We are very proud that our joint project with Uniper will contribute to the green transformation of our chemical site in Herne as part of a holistic concept."
Your contact person for further questions:
Uniper SE
Ilona Flechtner
External Communication & Sustainability
M +49 1512-8134776
Ilona.flechtner@uniper.energy
Evonik
Alexandra Boy
Head of Location Communication
T +49 2365 49-9449
Alexandra.boy@evonik.com
About Evonik
Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of 18.5 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of 2.49 billion in 2022. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable, and sustainable solutions for customers. About 34,000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow.
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.
About Uniper
Düsseldorf-based Uniper is an international energy company with activities in more than 40 countries. The company and its roughly 7,000 employees make an important contribution to supply security in Europe, particularly in its core markets of Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Uniper's operations encompass power generation in Europe, global energy trading, and a broad gas portfolio. Uniper procures gas including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other energy sources on global markets. The company owns and operates gas storage facilities with a total capacity of more than 7 billion cubic meters.
Uniper intends to be completely carbon-neutral by 2040. Uniper aims for its installed power generating capacity to be more than 80% zero-carbon by 2030. To achieve this, the company is transforming its power plants and facilities and investing in flexible, dispatchable power generating units. Uniper is already one of Europe's largest operators of hydropower plants and is helping further expand solar and wind power, which are essential for a more sustainable and secure future. The company is progressively expanding its gas portfolio to include green gases like hydrogen and biomethane and aims to convert to these gases over the long term.
Uniper is a reliable partner for communities, municipal utilities, and industrial enterprises for planning and implementing innovative, lower-carbon solutions on their decarbonization journey. Uniper is a hydrogen pioneer, is active worldwide along the entire hydrogen value chain, and is conducting projects to make hydrogen a mainstay of the energy supply.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Uniper SE Management and other information currently available to Uniper. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. Uniper SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to modify them to conform with future events or developments.
