District heating

Esbjerg goes climate neutral

World’s largest CO2-based seawater heat pump

Commissioned in 2024, the new plant uses CO₂ as refrigerant and supplies 280,000 MWh of climate-neutral heat to 25,000 households. Replacing the old coal-fired power plant saves 120,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions per year and puts Esbjerg on course to decarbonize by 2030.

How to produce clean, cost-efficient heat

Heat pumps extract heat from a low temperature source such as seawater, amplify it to a useful high temperature, and transfer it to where it’s needed. Powered by renewable electricity, a heat pump can supply carbon-neutral heating or cooling.

At the heart of the heat pump are compressors such as our powerful and reliable HOFIM and RG models. We have decades of experience in developing compressors for the most demanding conditions. Our large-scale heat pumps can supply the heating and cooling needed for extensive residential, industrial, or commercial applications. The power output ranges from 10 to 100 MWth per heat pump unit. Higher outputs can be achieved by operating several heat pumps in parallel.

Transcritical and vapor compression cycles

Vapor compression cycle (VCC)

Does your district heating network offer steam for local industries? If so, we can provide VCC heat pumps with an industrial or ambient heat source and a radial gear type compressor with an additional steam compressor.

Option for an additional steam compressor
Up to 140 °C (water production)
Up to 300 °C (steam production)

Read fact sheet

Transcritical compression cycle (TCC)

Our TCC heat pumps offer the appropriate range of outputs for most district heating and cooling requirements. Everllence TCC heat pumps make good use of the special properties that CO₂ offers as a natural refrigerant fluid – it works very efficiently at high and low temperatures as well as being non-flammable.