The decarbonisation of industrial process heat is one of the greatest challenges of the energy transition. A significant proportion of industrial heat demand lies in the temperature range below 200 °C and has so far been met predominantly by fossil fuels. An alternative approach was realised with the NEFI project AHEAD (Advanced Heat Pump Demonstrator), which enables the complete replacement of fossil-fuel-based steam generation with electrically powered, highly efficient heat pump technology.

As part of the project, the first industrial high-temperature heat pump was installed at Takeda's biopharmaceutical production site in Vienna, providing completely CO₂-free process steam. It achieves process temperatures of 184 °C at 11 bar and specifically utilises the seasonally available waste heat from existing refrigeration systems. This enables CO₂-free steam generation for more than seven months of the year – a technological breakthrough for pharmaceutical production. The system operates entirely with natural refrigerants.

The measurable effects underscore the industrial added value: the annual savings potential amounts to up to 1,600 tonnes of CO₂, which corresponds to a reduction of around 80 per cent of previous emissions at the site. In addition to direct emissions reduction, AHEAD also increases resilience to volatile energy prices and creates a robust foundation for long-term competitive production processes. AIT and Takeda were honoured for the project with the DECA Award 2025 in the ‘Industry’ category and, in 2023, with the Net-Zero Industries Award in the ‘Outstanding Project’ category.

The demonstration operation is accompanied by scientific monitoring by AIT. Performance data, operating strategies and scaling potential are systematically analysed and translated into digital system models. The aim is to thoroughly assess the transferability of the technology to other sites and energy-intensive sectors – such as chemicals, food or paper.

AHEAD is a project of the NEFI – New Energy for Industry innovation network and is funded by the Climate and Energy Fund. As a demonstrator in an industrial setting, the project exemplifies how applied research, industrial implementation and climate policy objectives can be effectively combined. AHEAD thus sets a new benchmark for CO₂-free process heat and for the scalable transformation of industrial energy systems.