Calefa won the European DecarbIndustry award

The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) has awarded the Finnish company Calefa Oy in the DecarbIndustry category of its example from Orion medical factory in Turku.

AmbiHeat® by Calefa heat pump plant produces district heating for the needs of the four-hectare factory area entirely without CO₂ emissions. The plant utilises outdoor air and industrial waste heat as energy sources. At the same time, it produces cooling for factory processes. 

The environmentally friendly solution is very economical for the pharmaceutical factory, as it reduces the need for purchased district heating by almost 70%. Most of the energy demand is now met self-sufficiently with the AmbiHeat plant by utilising waste heat from processes and outdoor energy.

In heavyweight class

Calefa’s solution won a European competition in which the leading heat pump solutions of the world are compared. 

"The level of competition is high and naturally winning feels really good," says CEO of Calefa Petri Vuori, commenting the victory.

"Year after year, different heat pump solutions are becoming more common. The projects are getting bigger, and at the same time their environmental impact is increasing. You have to be able to make bigger and more innovative solutions in order to stand out," Vuori adds.

Catarina Hildén-Fjäder, Energy Efficiency Manager at Orion, describes the victory as a pleasant surprise.

"Of course, we have been confident that the plant will produce a large part of the heating we need at the Turku factory with good efficiency. As such, the project is significant."

Success for the second time

The prize is by no means the first for Calefa, as the company has already won The Heat Pump City of the Year in 2015 with its solution utilizing waste heat from the Yandex data centre. The heat is transferred to the district heating network in the municipality of Mäntsälä by the energy company Nivos.

How was the victory reached for the second time?

"Innovation is a key factor. Such solutions cannot be found elsewhere. AmbiHeat uses Calefa's own heat pump technology and the expertise of our entire team. Through cooperation we are able to do such big things and show what is possible on a global scale." 

"I would like to thank the customer for giving us the confidence and freedom to develop an innovative energy system for the future. We have been allowed to implement it based on our own vision," says Petri Vuori.

In his view combining economic and environmental values is the way to achieve carbon neutrality on a global scale.

What's AmbiHeat all about?

AmbiHeat is a modular heat pump plant developed by the Finnish company Calefa. It produces thermal energy from surrounding energy sources. Outdoor air, water bodies, industrial waste heat, geothermal heat and solar energy can be utilised as heat sources.

The core of the plant is a special heat pump developed by Calefa. It can produce unusually high temperatures. For this reason, AmbiHeat is suitable for industrial needs as well as for district heating. In addition to heating also cooling can be produced emission-free. 

The modular plant is manufactured and tested in factory conditions, and then transported to the site where the connections are made. There are eight plant sizes. The smallest is suitable for heating a few properties, and the largest covers the heat demand of a medium-sized city.

There is increasing interest in AmbiHeat heat pump plants on the market and with orders pouring in Calefa is growing strongly?

In addition to industria sector, AmbiHeat heat pump plants are used by energy companies which are increasingly turning towards non-ert5technology in heat production. 

"AmbiHeat plants will be seen in a wide variety of locations. Since the systems have been demonstrated to work in our Northern climate, they will certainly work further south as well. In Finland, the change of taxation of heat pumps in district heating networks will accelerate the development of non-combustion heat production," says Petri Vuori, CEO.