HEAT PUMPS

RENEWABLES PROJECTS: GIANT HEAT PUMP WILL BE BUILT AT THE BASF SITE IN GERMANY

An industrial-scale heat pump is being built at the BASF site in Ludwigshafen, Germany by BASF and MAN Energy Solutions. Both companies are now conducting a feasibility study for the planned heat pump in an effort to reduce emissions and natural gas consumption. The planned large-scale heat pump will enable production of steam using electricity from renewable energy, tapping waste heat from the cooling water system at BASF as a source of thermal energy. The residual heat in the water will be processed using compression to produce steam that will be fed into the site’s steam network. By integrating the planned heat pump into the site’s production infrastructure, up to 150 metric tons of steam can be produced per hour, equivalent to a thermal output of 120MW. The project could reduce CO2 emissions at the site by up to 390,000 metric tons per year. At the same time, it would make the cooling water system more efficient and less dependent on climate and weather conditions. Dr. Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF SE said in a statement: “In the medium term, we want to reduce our CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2030. “The use of technologies such as large heat pumps, which already exist and can be scaled up to industrial size, brings us a lot closer to this goal. In our co-operation with MAN Energy Solutions, we combine the expertise of a chemical Verbund site with the knowhow required for the technological implementation of a project like this. This technology also has the potential to pave the way for projects at other BASF sites.” In Ludwigshafen, BASF requires around 20 million metric tons of steam per year. The plants at the site use much of this as process steam in production, for example, to dry products, heat up reactors or for distilling. Around half of the steam required at the Ludwigshafen site is already produced by recovering heat from production facilities using a low-CO2 process. The remaining steam demand, approximately 50 percent, is met by gas and steam power plants, which emit CO2 during generation. Dr. Uwe Lauber, CEO of MAN Energy Solutions SE, commented: “Space heating and process heat account for around one-third of German greenhouse gas emissions. Together with BASF, we want to address this significant lever with an innovative solution. We are convinced that our heat pump solution can make a decisive contribution to a climate-friendly supply of steam at the Ludwigshafen site.” BASF wants to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and new technologies such as the electrification of of steam production will contribute to meeting this target. Dr. Uwe Liebelt, President European Verbund Sites, BASF SE: “Protecting the climate means not only avoiding greenhouse gas emissions but also using energy sustainably – industrial heat pumps enable both. In the future, they will be an essential part of the sustainable energy infrastructure at the Ludwigshafen site.”

Foward-looking projects

BASF Renewable Energy GmbH is responsible for the procurement and trading of renewable energies at BASF. A spokesman commented: “We are a pacesetter and source of ideas for BASF on the way to climate neutrality.” BASF is fully committed to its renewable energy projects. In September 2021, BASF acquired 49.5 percent of Vattenfall’s Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm. Assembly work for the wind farm in the Dutch North Sea began in July 2021. The subsidy-free offshore wind farm is scheduled to be fully operational in 2023. With a total installed capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world at this time. The investment is BASF’s first major investment in renewable electricity plants. This enables BASF to use innovative, low-emission technologies at several production sites in Europe. BASF’s Antwerp Verbund site will benefit significantly from the renewable electricity. The BASF plant in Antwerp is the largest chemical production site in Belgium and the SECOND largest site of the BASF Group worldwide. BASF and RWE are jointly looking into obtaining electricity from renewable sources for BASF’s chemical site in Ludwigshafen A new, additional offshore wind farm in the German North Sea with an installed capacity of 2 gigawatts is to supply green electricity for BASF’s Ludwigshafen plant from 2030 and generate CO2-free production of hydrogen. With the help of wind power, the production of basic chemicals, which was previously based on fossil fuels, is to be electrified. BASF is looking into CO2-low technologies such as electrically heated steam crackers. In order to advance the joint project, BASF and RWE signed a Memorandum of Understanding in May 2021 on a far-reaching co-operation for the development of additional capacities for renewable electricity and the use of innovative technologies.

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