Germany – BASF has received a grant of about 310 million euros from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Change for the construction of the world’s largest industrial heat pump. In the coming months, the company will begin preparatory work for construction at the Ludwigshafen site. The pump will be commissioned in 2027.
The new heat pump is the first of its kind to be used for steam generation. There are no comparable industrial pilot projects for this technology anywhere, said Markus Kamieth, Chairman of BASF’s Executive Board.
The pump will have a capacity to produce 500,000 tons of steam annually. The pump uses waste heat from cooling and purifying process gases from one of the two steam crackers at the site. The required electricity is generated by renewable energy. The steam generated is used in the production of formic acid. Thanks to the heat pump, 98 percent of greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced in this process. Other production units at the site can also use the steam through the steam network. BASF calculated that the pump provides an annual greenhouse gas reduction of 100 thousand tons.
BASF plans to commission the heat pump in 2027. Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2025.
Last year, BASF used about 14 million tons of steam in Ludwigshafen. Half of the steam is generated by using heat recovery.
