The official launch of the AHEAD (Advanced Heat Pump Demonstrator) project at Takeda in Vienna marks a decisive step towards CO₂-free industrial process heat.
The high-temperature heat pump system developed by Takeda in collaboration with the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is the world's first industrial plant to generate steam above 180 °C entirely without fossil fuels and exclusively with natural refrigerants. AHEAD is thus making a significant contribution to sustainable drug production and the decarbonisation of industry.
Already honoured with the Net Zero Industries Award 2023 and presented at the UN Climate Change Conference COP28, AHEAD will also be showcased in 2025 in the Austrian pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka as an example of technological excellence from Austria.
Andreas Kugi, Scientific Director of AIT: "Heat pumps will be a central element of the future energy infrastructure – including in industry. With AHEAD, we are setting an important milestone: a steam-generating heat pump that operates exclusively with natural refrigerants at 11 bar and 184 °C. Industrial high-temperature heat pumps have enormous potential, as almost 40% of the process heat demand of European industry is below 200 °C."
Thomas Wozniewski, Global Manufacturing & Supply Officer: "We are convinced that a healthy planet is a prerequisite for a healthy life. That is why we have set ourselves ambitious environmental goals for more sustainable drug production, including net-zero greenhouse gas emissions along our value chain by 2040. To achieve these goals, we are constantly evaluating and implementing new technologies. Environmental protection is a shared responsibility, and AHEAD is an excellent example of how cooperation between industry and research institutes can lead to success and set a precedent beyond our own industry."
Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Energy and Tourism: "Austria needs an economic upturn to secure jobs, prosperity and our welfare state. We can only achieve this upturn if we focus on our strengths: diligence, inventiveness and internationality. AHEAD shows how these strengths can be turned into innovation that creates added value and strengthens our international standing. My congratulations go to everyone who contributed to this flagship project."
The AIT is supporting the plant with 4,000 hours of scientific monitoring to evaluate its efficiency, operational safety and transferability to other industries. The annual savings potential is up to 1,600 tonnes of CO₂, which means around 80 per cent fewer emissions at the Vienna site.
With AHEAD, Takeda and AIT are sending a strong signal for innovation, sustainability and the future of industrial energy supply – and making it clear that close cooperation between industry and research is the key to competitive and climate-friendly production.
Congratulations to the AIT, TAKEDA & NEFI team who worked hard on the implementation: Veronika Wilk, Sophie Knöttner, Johannes Riedl, Verena Sulzgruber, Felix Hubmann Reinhard Jentsch, Benedikt Mauel, Michael Pölzl, Bernd Windholz
More pictures: https://www.publichealth.at/portfolio-items/AHEAD-2025/
