Industries from food and beverages to textiles and paper could all benefit if electrification technology for industrial heat reaches a positive tipping point.
Companies using under-400°C heat can act now to analyse their needs, manage the complexity of a switch to electrification, reduce their emissions – and capture the benefits of being early adopters.
Industrial heat is responsible for around 20% of global CO2 emissions. But for industrial heat below 400°C – which is responsible for about 40% of industrial heat emissions – a positive tipping point is within reach. Direct electrification is often the optimal solution for this industrial heat in this low-to-medium temperature range.
A wide range of industries use sub-400°C heat, and some – including food, beverages and tobacco; textiles; and pulp, paper and print – almost exclusively use heat in this range.
While higher-range electrification technologies are still many years from being commercially available, companies using sub-400C heat can act now. This includes replacing fossil fuel boilers or furnaces with electric technologies, such as heat pumps, mechanical vapour recompression, electric boilers, and thermal energy storage systems.
Industrial heat: explore your options
Industrial heat is a complex landscape, and finding the right pathway can be a challenge, especially when managing sites in different geographies. But depending on your location, there are already some sizeable savings to be made by electrifying your industrial heat systems.
By getting ahead of any upcoming requirements to decarbonize, companies can avoid future bottlenecks in grid access and other infrastructure, reduce emissions and improve businesses operations. And at a global system level, the future trend is clear. “The three ‘A’s from the tipping points framework – affordability, accessibility, attractiveness – show that electrification is the main solution for below-400C heat decarbonization,” says Systemiq’s Maaike Witteveen. “That framework shows what site-specific conditions should be in place to make electrification competitive today.”
Industrial heat: find your pathway
1. Determine a heat and power plan for site archetypes
For heat, archetypes are defined based on products, processes, and associated heat requirements: what share of heat can be decarbonized through electrification, and what are the most suitable technologies to do so? For power, on-site space and market dynamics – such as power prices and grid availability – define the archetypes.
2. Prioritize sites based on local characteristics and build the business case for implementation
A higher-level scan can consider relevant local conditions, such as the presence of grants and taxes, grid capacity and attractively priced zero-emission electricity. Local and site-specific insights are needed to shed light on factors such as the materiality of current emissions, grid tariffs, required flexibility in electricity demand or the production process on site.
3. Execute pioneering projects
Pioneering projects can serve as a starting point, allowing a company to capture learnings early on, partially offset their capex investments through economic incentives such as subsidies and grants whilst they are available, and apply for grid capacity expansion in the event the local grid is congested and there is no space for on-site renewables.
Each site is unique and electrifying industrial heat is not ‘one-size-fits-all’ – but it is increasingly possible. Particularly for companies with multiple operations in different regions, our three-phase approach helps to identify the specific challenges, such as local regulations, energy prices and infrastructure, de-risking your journey. Download our report to see how Systemiq can help, or click below to ask the report team a question.
