The problem
Heat is the hidden giant of industrial energy use. Most of it still comes from burning gas, oil or coal, and much of the demand is for moderate temperatures. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that sectors such as food processing, textiles and machinery account for around 30% of total industrial energy use, and that about 75% of their heat demand is below 200°C (IEA, 9 December 2025). That range is within reach of electric technologies that are already on the market.
Electric boilers are simple, but they turn one unit of electricity into roughly one unit of heat, so their running costs are high where electricity is expensive. The IEA calculates that a standalone electric boiler costs about four times as much to run as a gas boiler in the United States and about twice as much in China. Heat pumps change the arithmetic because they move heat rather than generate it, typically delivering three or more units of heat per unit of electricity. The catch has been temperature: most commercial heat pumps top out near 90°C, too low for steam networks.
The product
The HeatBooster is designed for that gap. It takes waste heat between 10°C and 150°C, for example warm cooling water, condensate or low-pressure vapour, and upgrades it to hot water at 90 to 200°C or steam at up to 180°C and 10 bar(a) (Heaten products). Two sizes exist. The HBL4 covers roughly 0.8 to 2.5 MW of thermal output and the larger HBL16 roughly 3.2 to 10 MW; units can be run in parallel, in cascade or in two stages to build systems of 50 MW or more.
Heaten’s technical sheet for the IEA’s heat pump programme describes the piston compressor as the core technology. The HBL4 has a maximum swept volume of 1,476 m³ an hour and the HBL16 5,904 m³ an hour. Units run on hydrocarbon or HFO refrigerants, can operate from about 30% load upwards, and are available in water-to-water, water-to-steam and steam-to-steam versions. The same sheet listed the development status as “demonstration plant, 10 to 15 units sold” (Heaten supplier sheet, October 2025).
The company’s roots go back to 2010, when its engineers began working on organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engines at Viking Heat Engines. After about €30 million of engineering and more than 60,000 hours of testing, the team pivoted to high-temperature heat pumps in 2017 and founded Heaten AS in March 2020 (Heaten company page).
How it works
The HeatBooster is a closed-loop vapour compression heat pump, the same principle as a fridge run in reverse, scaled up for industry:
- Heat recovery: a heat exchanger collects energy from a waste stream, such as 70°C cooling water, and evaporates the refrigerant.
- Compression: the piston compressor raises the refrigerant’s pressure and temperature. Pistons handle high pressure ratios well and keep efficiency high at part load.
- Heat delivery: in the condenser, the hot refrigerant heats pressurised water or generates steam for the plant’s existing steam network.
- Expansion and repeat: the refrigerant expands, cools, and returns to the evaporator.
Heaten says efficiency exceeds 50% of the theoretical Carnot limit. One worked example in its IEA sheet takes a 70°C source and delivers 125°C heat: 3.3 MW of heat for 0.91 MW of electricity, a coefficient of performance of 3.6, with estimated savings of 6,274 tonnes of CO2 a year and a payback under four years.
Timeline
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2010 to 2017 | ORC engine development at Viking Heat Engines; pivot to high-temperature heat pumps in 2017 |
| Mar 2020 | Heaten AS founded |
| Jan 2022 | €6 million Series A from Azolla Ventures, Nysnø Climate Investments and Shell Ventures |
| Nov 2023 | Strategic partnership with Südzucker announced |
| Sep 2024 | HBL4 completes functional and endurance testing in Remscheid |
| Oct 2024 | Acquired by AI Alpine, controlled by funds managed by Advent International |
| Dec 2025 | Selected to supply an HBL16 to ArcelorMittal Belgium in Ghent |
Impact and numbers
- Südzucker: Heaten and the German sugar group announced a strategic collaboration in November 2023, with the first HeatBoosters planned for early 2024 (Valinor, 16 November 2023). Heaten now reports that in 2025 a Südzucker site replaced a steam boiler with the HeatBooster, cutting CO2 emissions by 65% at process temperatures up to 180°C (Heaten).
- Food and pharma: the company reports 150°C process heat and 40% lower energy costs at Mars food facilities, and zero on-site emissions for steam generation at Bayer.
- Steel: Heaten will supply an HBL16 to the EU-funded HURRICANE project at ArcelorMittal Belgium’s Ghent site, upgrading surplus heat from steelmaking for a new district heating network (Heaten, December 2025).
- Per-unit effect: Heaten estimates that one HBL4 avoids about 1,000 to 3,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, depending on operating hours and the fuel replaced.
- Backing: the €6 million Series A in 2022 (Heaten) was followed by Advent’s acquisition in 2024. Advent links Heaten to INNIO, which runs a 10 MW-plus closed-loop heat pump test bed with Heaten in Jenbach, Austria (Heaten, 3 October 2024).
Honest caveats. Most of the customer results above are Heaten’s own figures, and the company’s fleet is still small: its 2025 technical sheet spoke of 10 to 15 units sold. Heat pumps only pay off where a site has a suitable waste heat source, enough operating hours and an affordable grid connection; the IEA notes that heat pumps cost substantially more to buy and install than boilers, and that grid connection costs can be a major barrier. CO2 savings depend on the carbon intensity of the electricity used. HFO refrigerants, one of the two options, face scrutiny in Europe over PFAS rules.
What’s next
The next milestones are the HBL16 installation in Ghent and broader rollout of the larger unit, which competes in a segment traditionally served by screw and turbo compressors. Policy is moving in its favour: the EU is piloting a €500 million Industrial Heat Auction, and several countries are cutting electricity taxes for industry. With INNIO’s manufacturing and service network, Heaten says it can build thousands of compressors and heat pumps a year if demand follows.
Why it matters for Europe / green buyers
For energy managers in food, beverage, paper and chemicals, the HeatBooster is a tangible way to electrify steam without rebuilding the plant: it plugs into existing steam networks and uses heat the site already throws away. Buyers should start with a heat audit to map waste streams and steam demand, test the business case at their real electricity and gas prices, and ask for measured coefficient of performance data from comparable sites.
The same logic applies in India, where dairies, textile mills and food processors burn coal, gas and biomass for low-pressure steam while discarding warm effluent. High-temperature heat pumps could cut fuel bills there too, provided reliable, reasonably priced power is available.
Sources & image credits
- Heaten, homepage and FAQ: https://heaten.com/
- Heaten, “High-temperature heat pump for industrial use up to 200 °C” (products): https://heaten.com/products
- Heaten, company page and timeline: https://heaten.com/company
- Heaten, “HeatBooster” supplier sheet for the IEA Heat Pumping Technologies programme, October 2025: https://heatpumpingtechnologies.org/content/uploads/sites/81/2026/03/supplier33heaten20251003.pdf
- Heaten, “Turning steelmaking heat into clean power for the community”, December 2025: https://heaten.com/news/turning-steelmaking-heat-into-clean-power-for-the-community
- Heaten, “Heaten sets course for growth through strategic partnership with Advent International”, 3 October 2024: https://heaten.com/news/strategic_partnership_advent_international
- Valinor, “Heaten and Südzucker announce a strategic collaboration on heat pumps”, 16 November 2023: https://valinor.no/en/activities/heaten-og-sudzucker-announce-a-strategic-collaboration-on-heat-pumps/
- Heaten, “Heaten AS secures €6 million in funding from Azolla Ventures, Nysnø Climate Investments and Shell Ventures”, 2022: https://heaten.com/news/heaten-as-secures-e-6-million-in-funding-from-azolla-ventures-nysno-climate-investments-and-shell-ventures
- International Energy Agency, “Can low-temperature heat in factories be electrified competitively?”, 9 December 2025: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/can-low-temperature-heat-in-factories-be-electrified-competitively
Images:
- “Heat pumping station - with sound” by P K, licensed CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heat_pumping_station_-_with_sound_(3307497516).jpg
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