22 Apr 2022

Johnson Controls, the pioneer for smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings announces it has commissioned a new heat pump installation that will support European energy company Vattenfall in its goal to eliminate carbon emissions from its heating and power generation facilities by 2050.

Heat pumps

Heat pumps are seen as a crucial technology in the European Union’s plans for a sustainable, low-carbon economy as set out in its Green Deal; and with energy prices at an all-time high, their ability to deliver heating and cooling without the need for more natural gas is critical.

Moreover, heat pumps are a core technology enabling Europe to meet its essential REPowerEU plan, including the aim of installing 50 million units across the bloc by 2030.

Sabroe heat pump technology

The addition of the heat pump will boost the plant’s district heating capacity without burning any additional fossil fuel

Johnson Controls Industrial Refrigeration business deployed its proven Sabroe heat pump technology with a 700 kW heating capacity at Vattenfall Europe Wärme AG's Berlin-Buch, combined heat and power (CHP), plant in Berlin, Germany.

The CHP plant currently uses a heat recovery boiler to capture waste heat from an existing gas turbine to generate heat for the local district heating network. The addition of the heat pump will boost the plant’s district heating capacity without burning any additional fossil fuel, thus contributing to energy security and avoiding the production of about 620 tonnes/year of carbon dioxide emissions.

Providing heating and hot water

In Berlin, Vattenfall operates the largest urban heating network in Western Europe with around 1.3 million connected residential units. A total of 2,000 kilometers of pipelines supply the connected properties with 80 to 135°C hot water which provides heating and hot water to connected residences.

The Buch island network in the north of Berlin supplies a total of around 10,000 apartments and 500 individual facilities such as schools or clinics with climate-friendly heat.

Energy transition

This project puts the power of heat pumps to work to meet energy needs while cutting waste, emissions, and costs. Importantly heat pumps deliver required heating without the need for additional gas supplies,” said Dave Dorney, vice president & general manager of industrial refrigeration at Johnson Controls.

We are proud to be part of the energy transition here in Germany and this project allows us to put our large heat pumps to work and provide energy, environmental, and security solutions.”

Carbon neutrality

Vattenfall’s CO2 roadmap will see it completely phase out coal in its heat portfolio by 2030

Germany is in the midst of an energy transition, named Energiewende, that will see an increase in renewables and the reduction of fossil fuels as it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

The government has said coal-fired power generation will be phased out by 2038. Vattenfall’s CO2 roadmap will see it completely phase out coal in its heat portfolio by 2030 in support of national targets.

Heat pump installation

The new heat pump installation at Berlin-Buch is part of our goal to enable fossil-free living in one generation, while still delivering on our customers’ expectations for the supply of affordable electricity and heat in the city of Berlin.”

We are proud to be part of the pioneering effort to roll out heat pumps across Germany’s energy sector,” says Andreas Heuer, Asset-Manager dezentrale Anlagen, Vattenfall.

Decarbonization of buildings

Following commissioning, the plant is now meeting its performance guarantees. Johnson Controls is cutting edge when it comes to the technology needed to decarbonize buildings.

The company is helping meet the growing demand for energy-efficient technologies and has innovative building management solutions such as VAV HVAC systems, together with its most advanced energy-efficient heat pumps. Johnson Controls' portfolio of services and solutions, powered by OpenBlue, can also drive significant improvement in energy efficiency and corresponding carbon emissions.

Net-Zero Economy

Cutting carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels in heating/cooling has to be a top priority"

Cutting carbon emissions from the use of fossil fuels in heating/cooling, whether for district heating, industrial processes, or in buildings, has to be a top priority if we want to achieve a net-zero economy in the fight against climate change,” said Katie McGinty, vice president & chief sustainability and external relations officer at Johnson Controls.

Heat pumps are vital since they cut natural gas needs and bolster energy security even as they enable us to take on the almost 40% of global CO2 emissions that come from buildings.”

Building efficiency

Natural gas is the primary source of energy for building heating, so we are eagerly ramping up our production of heat pumps and other solutions to meet the challenge of improved building efficiency and a net-zero and secure energy future”.

Both Vattenfall and Johnson Controls are founding members of the First Movers Coalition. The coalition was launched at COP26 in Glasgow by the U.S. State Department and the World Economic Forum. Members of the coalition are committed to increasing the share of emerging technologies critical to the net-zero transition.