Recent collaboration could help decarbonize European paper sector

According to a news release from Cepi (Confederation of European Paper Industries), a collaboration that it engaged in with EHPA (European Heat Pump Association) has resulted in innovation that could produce energy savings of up to 50 percent in paper manufacturing and could help decarbonize one of Europe’s most energy-intensive sectors. However, before this can become a reality, Cepi says EU regulators must speed up incentives for affordable clean energy.

Heat pumps enable energy savings for many industries, Cepi says, providing about 10 percent of final industrial energy demand in Europe and helping to lower industrial emissions across many sectors. Because of a recent development, large heat pumps and steam compressors now can heat up to 200 C, or 392 F, meeting the pulp and paper industry’s needs.

A joint working group between members of the European paper and heat pump industries calculated potential energy savings in paper drying of more than 50 percent, and a joint Cepi-EHPA paper detailing how heat pumps could be integrated into paper mills has been published.

Cepi says collaboration can result in innovation breakthroughs, with real decarbonization impacts, which is the purpose of Cepi’s Energy Efficiency Solutions Forum. Through the working group, front-running companies can exchange and learn from each other’s efforts to implement cutting-edge technologies.

Whether or not heat pumps can be rapidly deployed in paper mills across Europe depends on the regulatory incentives that national government and EU institutions can provide for electrifying the sector, Cepi says, which will require affordable clean energy to meet the challenges set in the recently announced EU Green Deal Industry Plan.

Thomas Nowak, EHPA secretary general, says, “The progressive phase-out of the fossil fuel alternative in industrial applications will be essential to building a business case. It will also be driven by high energy costs and the increasing CO2 price where clean energy clearly offers a beneficial solution.”

“When Cepi launched the Energy Efficiency Solutions Forum exactly three years ago, heat pumps were investigated but were not yet reaching high enough temperatures,” says Jori Ringman, director general of Brussels-based Cepi. “Through the candid collaboration between both sectorial associations, the technology now matches our needs. It will be an important building block in reducing the energy needs in the paper industry.

“The industry will continue doing its part in reducing energy consumption, and heat pumps can play an important role in that,” he continues. “Combined with access to affordable fossil-free energy, heat pumps will allow for a full transition towards a decarbonized and circular economy based on bio-products.”