- Heat pump uses 25–30°C industrial cooling water from Evonik's Herne site and raises it to up to 130°C for district heating.
- It supplies up to 1.5 MW to Iqony's network, covering about 1,000 households and avoiding up to 1,750 t CO₂/yr.
- Uniper financed, planned, installed and operates the pilot; Evonik supplies the waste heat and reduces cooling-tower fan electricity use.
- Project has pilot character with potential to integrate roughly an additional 20 MW of industrial waste heat.
Project overview
Uniper and Evonik have commissioned a high‑temperature industrial heat pump at Evonik’s Herne site to feed waste heat into the district heating network operated by Iqony.
Technical solution
The unit captures low‑temperature cooling water heated to about 25–30°C by chemical processes and raises it to district‑heating temperatures of up to 130°C, achieving a temperature lift of more than 100°C at the megawatt scale—reported as the first facility of its kind in Germany.
Capacity and impact
The heat pump can supply up to 1.5 MW into Iqony’s network, covering roughly 1,000 households, and is estimated to avoid up to 1,750 tonnes of CO₂ per year compared with fossil‑fuel heat supply.
Operational and economic effects
Uniper financed, planned, installed and will operate the pilot plant; Evonik provides the waste heat and reduces electricity used by cooling‑tower fans that previously appeared on its energy bill.
Scaling potential
Partners describe the installation as a pilot: based on operational insights, there is potential to integrate an additional c.20 MW of industrial waste heat into the district heating system.
