After roughly one year of construction, the system has been commissioned and will provide climate-friendly heat to 50.000 square meters of production facilities, offices and the canteen—entirely without the use of fossil fuels.
With the system now in operation, SMS group will save around 6.000 tons of CO₂ per year. This achievement is made possible by AI-supported control technologies that ensure high efficiency using renewable energy sources. The system serves as an important example of how industrial decarbonization and sustainable energy use can be implemented in practice.
The Power-to-Heat system uses four large air-to-water heat pumps to extract thermal energy from ambient air, which is then heated up to 85°C via water-to-water heat pumps. A 2.000 m³ storage tank secures heat supply during peak demand periods. In colder weather, a 4 MWth electric boiler can step in to heat water up to 95°C. The AI-driven system optimizes energy consumption based on weather and demand forecasts and operates using only green, cost-efficient electricity.
SMS group CFO Fabíola Fernandez stated: “The Power-to-Heat plant in Hilchenbach is a central step toward our goal of climate-neutral production by 2030. It also serves as a blueprint for all our other sites. Our priority is not only to reduce the carbon footprint of the global steel industry but also to implement sustainability within our own production facilities.”
The system’s modular design allows future expansion with additional renewable-energy components and will help stabilize the electricity grid by storing surplus green energy as heat. GETEC financed the plant and carried out installation and operational management. GETEC CEO Thomas Stephanblome commented: “The Power-to-Heat system in Hilchenbach shows how industrial decarbonization can be implemented today; it delivers a fully economic, modular and fossil-free solution.”
The project was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and overseen by the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA). BAFA President Dr. Mandy Pastohr noted: “Thanks to BEW support, GETEC and SMS group have taken an exemplary step toward making industrial heating climate-neutral. This benefits both companies and society as a whole.”
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