Press release September 30, 2024
Iqony investigates utilization of waste heat
If E.ON builds an electrolyzer in the city harbor in Essen, the resulting waste heat could be used for the local district heating supply.
Essen. The Essen-based energy company E.ON recently presented plans to operate an electrolyzer in Essen's city harbor starting in 2027. Iqony Fernwärme is investigating the potential use of waste heat from the hydrogen production process for the local district heating network.
The use of waste heat from industrial processes has long been part of the business of district heating supply. If it is technically and economically feasible to tap the heat that unavoidably arises in industrial processes for district heating supply, this will reduce the consumption of resources for district heating – and in turn reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We have been working for some time on developing specific scenarios for how we can gradually supply our customers with district heating in an increasingly climate-friendly way over the next few years, while at the same time ensuring a secure supply and remaining competitive,” says Matthias Ohl, Managing Director of Iqony Fernwärme GmbH. The goal is to achieve a completely climate-neutral heating supply by 2040.
New sources of heat and flexible deployment
For this to succeed, numerous alternative heat sources and technical solutions are needed to enable their flexible use. “Heat from industry does not always occur exactly when heat is needed in the network. That is why we are increasingly relying on heat storage for the future. These storage systems absorb heat whenever it is produced and not immediately consumed, and can supply it later when there is a corresponding demand,” explains Matthias Kuhles, Technical Director of Iqony Fernwärme.
In the specific case of the planned electrolysis facility, there is an additional economic advantage. “Given the current market situation, future electrolysis facilities will mainly produce hydrogen when there is a lot of electricity from wind and solar energy in the grid and electricity prices are therefore rather low,” says Matthias Kuhles. “Because we will still have to raise the temperature of the waste heat using electric heat pumps before it can be used in our district heating network, we also benefit from the relatively low electricity prices in this particular case. This makes the project particularly interesting for us too.”
Iqony working with industry to utilize waste heat.
On the way to a climate-neutral heat supply, Iqony has recently already concluded and prolonged cooperation agreements with Trimet’s aluminum smelter in Essen and RWE’s waste-to-energy plant in Karnap. Further projects to tap waste heat sources in the region are in preparation.
“The idea of also tapping into the waste heat generated by the electrolysis process at E.ON’s hydrogen project in the city harbor would further improve its energy balance and also its economic efficiency,” says Matthias Ohl. In this respect, the project could ultimately be one of several building blocks for a successful local heating transition towards a climate-neutral supply in Essen.
With regard to the topic of waste heat recovery in the Ruhr area as a whole, Matthias Ohl emphasizes the following advantages: “Projects to tap industrial waste heat kill several birds with one stone for the region: They improve the economic basis for industry, thus ensuring more secure employment prospects, while also contributing to greater climate protection by using the energy in a variety of ways. This is a win-win situation for all parties involved, and such projects therefore deserve appropriate support, especially from the government.”
Technical and commercial feasibility under investigation
In this specific case, Iqony is now separately examining the feasibility of heat extraction in parallel with E.ON’s ongoing feasibility study for the electrolyzer project. The corresponding results are expected by around the middle of next year.
