On September 17, 2026, IEA HPT Project 68 hosted its webinar “HTHPs and the Bio-/Pharma Industry”, organized in close collaboration with BioPhorum. With over 260 registered participants representing major pharmaceutical manufacturers, engineering consultancies, technology suppliers, and research institutions worldwide, the session highlighted the rapidly growing momentum for electrifying process heat in the life sciences sector.
Bridging Process Utilities and Heat Pump Solutions
Decarbonizing pharmaceutical production requires tackling steam and high-temperature utility demands while respecting strict hygiene, reliability, and regulatory constraints. Partnering with BioPhorum provided a direct bridge between pharmaceutical end-user requirements and cutting-edge heat pump engineering, demonstrating where and how high-temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) can replace fossil-fueled boilers today.
Expert Presentations & Case Studies
The webinar brought together four expert perspectives covering system-level integration, operational industrial pilot projects, and advanced thermodynamic systems:
- Decarbonization Concepts for Pharmaceutical Production Sites
Anton Beck, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
Presented findings from the DekarbPharm project, demonstrating how holistic site analyses, process optimizations, and temperature cascades can replace fossil steam with efficient heat pump systems. - AHEAD – Pioneering CO₂-Free Steam Without Gas
Doris Hofbauer, Takeda Manufacturing Austria
Showcased Takeda’s industrial demonstrator with a cascading heat pump and steam compression system utilizing 100% natural refrigerants (R-717 and R-600 with steam compression) generating up to 184 °C steam (11 bar(a), 1.7 MW), delivering up to an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. - Steam Generation for the Pharma Industry Using Stirling Heat Pumps
Torgrim Aase, Enerin
Explored how high-lift Stirling-cycle heat pumps using Helium (R-704, zero GWP) can supply process heat and steam up to 200 °C from diverse industrial waste heat sources, drawing on operational pilot experiences including GE Healthcare. - HTHPs in the Pharma Industry – Learnings from CHASE
Kurt Engelbrecht, Danish Technological Institute (DTI)
Discussed the integration of high-temperature steam heat pumps coupled with high-temperature Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage (LHTES) and electric boilers, applying techno-economic optimization to minimize OPEX across fluctuating electricity spot prices.
Key Takeaways
- Low-temperature heat is low-hanging fruit: Roughly one-third of the heat demand at typical pharmaceutical sites lies below 80 °C (e.g., HVAC heating, clean-in-place (CIP) preheating). Electrifying these loads via standard and medium-temperature heat pumps is technically and economically feasible today.
- Process redesign unlocks heat pump efficiency: Shifting from thermal steam distillation to membrane-based cold Water for Injection (WFI) and adopting adiabatic humidification drastically reduces overall steam requirements. This lowers required heat pump capacities and CAPEX, enabling deep decarbonization without increasing annualized energy costs.
- Direct industrial steam from HTHPs is proven in practice: Real-world implementations like Takeda’s AHEAD project prove that multi-megawatt steam generation up to 184 °C using natural refrigerants is technically viable and achieves high performance under continuous operation.
- Thermal storage & sector coupling enhance resilience: Pairing high-temperature heat pumps with thermal energy storage and electric boilers can provides critical supply security (8,000+ h/year) while optimizing operational costs in dynamic power markets even with non steady operation.
Download Presentation Slides
The presentation slides from all speakers are available for download on the Project 68 website:
👉 Download the webinar presentations here