Spring ‘25 events
Focus on Scandinavia — a key market for Enerin high-temperature heat pumps as grids reach capacity
Trond-Atle Asphjell presents at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology Heat and Power Symposium in Stockholm.
Scandinavia—Norway, Sweden and Denmark—is often seen as a leader in European clean energy initiatives due to a combination of geographic advantages, political will, carbon taxation, early investment, and strong environmental ethics.
Scandinavia is rich in minerals and natural resources. Excluding Norwegian oil and gas exploration, the region has traditionally led in hydropower, wind power, geothermal and biomass, which it has relied on increasingly for its energy over the past decades.
According to the Clean Energy Wire, Journalism for the Clean Energy Transition, Nordic countries have had a high deployment of both electric vehicles and heat pumps due to dynamic electricity tariffs where the electricity prices change every hour according to the wholesale electricity market (1).
But Norway, and some areas of Sweden and Denmark, has faced grid congestion where the demand for electricity is higher than what the grid can handle. This is despite the fact that Norway is known for its stable, low emissions grid with hydropower supplying 88 per cent of the electricity, although wind and solar power have grown exponentially over the last five years (2). When the grid becomes overloaded electricity cannot reach the end user.
A press release issued by the Norwegian Government’s Ministry of Energy, 2 February, 2025 (3), said that there was an “increasing need for investment in the power grid, driven in part by climate change, industry and digitalisation”.
Rollout of industrial heat pumps timely
Due to an ageing grid and the need for additional power lines and transmitters, those companies that are committed to decarbonise their process heat away from fossil fuels need to shore up their energy security.
High-temperature heat pumps (HTHPs) powered by low-emission electricity are broadly acknowledged as a key technology for decarbonising the heating sector. They play a central role in the global shift toward secure, sustainable, and affordable heat supply.
Using helium as its refrigerant, HoegTemp® is able to deliver and collect energy at different temperature levels, making it flexible to varying conditions and highly relevant for thermal energy storage and fossil fuel boiler replacement for process heat applications.
KTH Heat and Power Symposium draws influential audience
Rafael Guedez is a researcher, consultant and networker within energy circles who was able to draw high-level actors and stakeholders to the symposium.
As electricity grid congestion and shortfalls make headlines the KTH Royal Institute of Technology hosted its Heat and Power Symposium, held early in April, in Stockholm, Sweden. The event focused on the renewables and technology providers that could make an impact on energy supply through the provision of clean heat and power — an emerging thermal energy market that is yet to be exploited.
KTH Head of Heat and Power Technology in Energy Technology, Dr Rafael Guedez, and KTH Assistant Professor, Heat and Power Technology, Silvia Trevisan, brought more than 200 stakeholders to network, discuss and leverage projects, technologies and infrastructure that have the potential to decarbonisation industry.
Speaking before the event, Trevisan, who is also the scientific co-ordinator and researcher on the Horizon Europe I-UPS and UP-FLEXH projects, told KTH communication:
“I think we are at a very critical moment in our decarbonisation effort”. She emphasised the need for quick, effective solutions to “drastically reduce our fossil fuel consumption and emissions in the industrial sector”.
She highlighted the need for more awareness of thermal energy within the global demand, adding that many renewable and thermal energy technologies are already mature, and are ready to be deployed, or are close-to-ready.
Guedez said after the event that industry needs reliable solutions to switch away from fossil-based steam and drying systems. “This is where developing thermal energy storage makes sense because it’s the best technology to use when an end-user needs steam-based heat,” he explained.
“There is a lack of grid buildout at a time when we need to speed-up ‘electrification’ opportunities. Storage in the form of heat that is on-site satisfies the needs of end-users.
And until the electricity network develops further, we need policies that explicitly support and value the flexibility of the integrated power-to-heat and storage systems.”
Trond-Atle Asphjell presents HoegTemp reverse Stirling heat pump
Enerin COO Trond-Atle Asphjell was invited to present the company at the KTH Symposium and participate in a panel discussion. The Stirling cycle is one of the heat pumps on the market touted to be amongst the best at converting plentiful supplies of renewable electricity that can be stored via thermal energy storage. Enerin’s HoegTemp is able to collect, store and deliver energy at different temperature levels making an ideal fossil fuel boiler replacement for industry.
Enerin is due to implement its fourth installation in late 2025 which will be its first fully commercial project.
Based on 20 years of heat pump R&D and more than 40,000 hours of real-world prototype testing, the HoegTemp® holds a competitive edge with its single-lift energy delivery. The reverse Stirling-cycle solution is capable of delivering steam, hot water and thermal oil up to 250°C using renewable electricity.
Enerin has now clocked 10,000 hours of operational time with its three installation prototypes at industrial scale —the IVAR Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant, GE Healthcare and Pelagia. A fourth chemical installation is planned for the end of the year.
By integrating thermal energy storage with flexible heat pump systems, we can:
Charge heat from low-cost, renewable electricity during off-peak hours.
Store it in steam accumulators, hot water tanks, or thermal oil systems and even molten salts, which will be explored in I-UPS project.
Discharge heat when heat demand increases and electricity prices peak, reducing pressure on the grid.
This synergy is key to balancing the grid, decarbonizing industry, and meeting net-zero goals—while keeping costs under control.
Hub for Ocean highlights re-using fish sludge for the circular economy
Trond-Atle Asphjell (left) enjoying the Spring sun with members of the Hub for Ocean network.
Enerin is a member of the Norwegian Hub for Ocean network that drives circular value chains in ocean industries — a perfect match for our high-temperature heat pump (HTHP) solutions that run on circular energy using waste heat.
Our COO Trond Atle-Asphjell joined fellow Hub for Ocean members for the annual gathering in the stunning coastal village of Knutholmen on the island of Kalvåg (April 23–24, 2025).
A highlight? The Symbiose Fjordane programme — which is pioneering ways to reuse organic waste from aquaculture, like nutrient-rich fish sludge, instead of treating it as pollution.
Why does this matter? Because excess phosphorus and nitrogen from aquaculture can lead to eutrophication — harmful algal blooms that damage marine ecosystems. By converting fish waste into organic fertilisers or bioenergy feedstocks, companies can turn waste into value — and make the blue economy greener.
Fish sludge has a high moisture content and needs to be dried to reduce its volume to make it suitable for reuse.
“There is a compelling case for the conversion of traditional fossil drying methods to energy-efficient industrial heat pumps that provide thermal heat and steam to dry and sanitise the waste.”
A good example of how heat pumps can be used in circular economy settings is that of the IVAR Waste Water Treatment Plant in Grødaland, Norway, where the plant recovers agricultural waste and sewerage.
It is here that Enerin’s HoegTemp full-scale pilot project has been operating since 2023 in the biogas CO2 stripping process, saving up to 50 per cent of energy in that process. More can be read HERE.
Hub for Ocean targeting zero waste in the fishing industry.
Norwegian Refrigeration Technology Meeting — focus on sustainable refrigeration
Arne Høeg presents the HoegTemp industrial heat pump.
Seafood is one of Norway's biggest exports. Sustainable seafood refrigeration at the forefront of the discussion for the yearly gathering of the Norwegian Refrigeration Technology Meeting, Norsk Kjøleteknisk Forening. Delivering the best quality in fish requires state-of-the-art refrigeration technologies that are energy efficient.
Enerin CEO, Arne Høeg, presented Enerin’s HoegTemp heat pumps at the Norwegian Refrigeration Technology Meeting, in April in the session on high-temperature heat pumps. He highlighted that the best efficiencies can be achieved when heating and cooling are used simultaneously.
The Norwegian Refrigeration Technology Association is a professional non-profit association with the purpose of working for the development of refrigeration and heat pump technology in Norway. The Refrigeration Technology Meeting is held every year in Spring.
References:
(1) Clean Energy Wire: Crucial EU electricity market integration collides with member states’ worries of uneven benefits, 9 April, 2025, Carolina Kyllmann.
(2) Energy Facts Norway.
(3) Press Release: Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Energy. New steps to reduce electricity bills and maintain control over national energy resources.