ExerGo, Author at Exergo

Exergo selected by Groupe E for a flagship project in Fribourg

ExerGo — Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:41:21 +0000

Exergo deploys its innovative technology on a Groupe E flagship project in Fribourg

ExerGo’s technology has been selected by GroupeE for the construction of an industrial heat pump plant in Englisberg. This flagship project will use the CO2 network developed by ExerGo to transport heat from the lake to the heat pumps feeding the district heating of the city, thereby significantly increasing the renewable energy injected into the Fribourg network.

The ExerGo system is the first of its kind in terms of size and technological integration. It will power four heat pumps, each with a capacity of 4.5 MW. The Englisberg production faciility will be able to inject into the city’s district heating 70 GWh of thermal energy per year, which will eventually represent 6% of the total energy fed into the city’s district heating system.

Among the decisive factors that brought Groupe E to adopt ExerGo CO2 network the reduction in investment costs made possible by the compactness of the ExerGo solution, which also guarantees system redundancy. Another key advantage of using ExerGo system consists in assuring the reduction in the pumping energy requirements which is much lower than the solution using water.

Finally, environmental protection aspects also played a key role, as the CO2 contained in ExerGo’s closed circuit is the same as that absorbed by plants to grow and contains no lubricants or other chemicals that are harmful to the environment, such as the glycol in the water circuits, usually need with water to prevent freezing. ExerGo’s solution therefore minimises the risks in terms of environmental impact.

Construction is scheduled to start in the first half of 2025 and the plant is expected to be fully operational in 2027.

ExerGo’s CEO, Alberto Mian, is very proud of his team’s work: “This industrial scale facility equipped with our technology is the result of ExerGo team’s ongoing commitment to developing and establishing a new industry standard in the energy infrastructure market.

It is gratifying to witness the tangible results of our efforts in projects like Schiffenen, which are contributing to the energy transition and, more broadly, the decarbonization of densely populated areas. Moreover, our solutions can be implemented in Europe and globally for both heating and district cooling.”

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Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label for ExerGo’s CO2 networks

ExerGo — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 20:55:04 +0000

On March 2024, ExerGo’s solution was awarded the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label

Using natural resources such as lakes, rivers, oceans, geothermal energy or waste heat, ExerGo’s thermal networks efficiently distribute energy using CO₂ in a closed loop.

The excellent energy-carrying capabilities of CO₂ allow a thermal network to be deployed in a densely populated area using small flexible pipes. This helps to save high costs and time for construction and piping, enabling utilities, municipalities, private and public companies to accelerate the decarbonization of building heating and cooling in dense urban areas, where a CO₂ network can act as a smart thermal grid, optimizing supply and demand between users all year round.

Compatible with standard HVAC systems and heat harvesting technologies, ExerGo networks are suitable for various residential, commercial and industrial applications.

Access our solution page here !

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Meet the winners of the 2023 Heat Pump Awards

ExerGo — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 09:59:14 +0000

This press release was originally released by the European Heat Pump Association.

On 28 September, the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) hosted the 13^th edition of the Heat Pump Award, an event dedicated to honouring the most outstanding projects at the local, residential, and industrial levels. The Award Ceremony took place at the Grand Place Marriot Hotel in Brussels during EHPA’s annual Heat Pump Forum.

The Heat Pump Award, an initiative of EHPA, aims to capture the remarkable progress and relentless innovation driving the heat pump industry forward. In this edition, the 13^th, the Award received more than 40 applications from across the globe, each offering a unique perspective on how heat pumps play a vital role in our journey towards decarbonisation.

During the event, we granted recognition to winning projects in five categories: Heat Pump city of the Year, Decarbuilding – which celebrates the use of heat pumps in the building sector, Decarbindustry – use of heat pumps for more sustainable industrial practices-, Lighthouse Heat Pump – which rewards innovation and creativity, and People’s Choice – crowning the most popular heat pump project based on public votes.

We extend our gratitude to all the participants who submitted their remarkable projects, to the jury of experts that assessed the submissions and to the public that enthusiastically casted their votes to determine the People’s Choice Award winner.

The awarded projects for the 2023 edition are:

Heat Pump City of the Year Award: ‘The world’s first CO₂-based energy network’ in Sion, Switzerland, by ExerGo.

Introduced by Enrique Vilatmitjana Managing Director at Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions Europe, and accepted by Dr. Alberto Mian, CEO at ExerGo.

The project represents ExerGo´s efforts to pioneer the world’s first CO₂-based energy network, using CO₂ as a heat transfer fluid instead of water. The higher energy density means smaller, flexible pipes can be used. The pilot plant in Sion, Switzerland, has provided 1,200 MWh of year-round heating and cooling since March 2022, optimising energy usage among the Energypolis Campus buildings at HES-SO University of Applied Sciences.

It is a great honour for ExerGo to receive the prestigious Heat Pump City of The Year Award from the European Heat Pump Association.
This prize is an important milestone towards the recognition of our technology, the CO2 thermal network, as an efficient and ready-to-scale solution to decarbonize cities all around the world.
My deepest gratitude goes to my team, our investors and Sion pilot project partners who contributed to boost our development and commercialization.

Alberto Mian, CEO, ExerGo Tweet

Decarbuilding Award: ‘Water-Loop Heat Pump for heating systems retrofit in existing buildings‘ by INNOVA Srl.

The prize was introduced by Malgorzata Smuczynska, Regional Sales Director EAST and MD at ESBE Hydronic Systems, and accepted by Ilario Zanetti, Presales Engineer at INNOVA Srl.

This project was born under the firm belief that the global shift toward electric-based energy systems is crucial for decarbonisation, especially in existing buildings. The innovative water-loop heat pump air conditioning system employs a primary heat pump to generate water suitable for standard pipes and radiators, ensuring consistent temperatures (20-35 °C) throughout the year. Quiet

In order to decarbonise our building stock, we must equip large existing buildings with smart, clean heating and cooling technologies. Winning the DecarBuilding Award with our waterloop heat pump reinforces INNOVA’s core mission: to grow through innovation.

Ilario Zanneti, Presales Engineer, Innova Srl Tweet

Decarbindustry Award: ‘How Bosch transformed the Eisenach plant into a pioneer in energy efficiency’, by Bosch.

Introduced by Irene Egea Saiz, EU Projects Manager at EHPA, and accepted by Rudolf Marevic, Service and Portfolio Management at Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH.

In this project, the Bosch Eisenach factory, formerly reliant on gas boilers and chillers, underwent a transformation to decarbonise its heating and cooling. It used compressed air waste heat recovery and a heat pump, slashing annual CO² emissions by 2,400 tons, cutting gas consumption by over 90%, and lowering energy costs by approximately 600,000 euros. The site now boasts nearly carbon-neutral heating and cooling generation.

We are honoured to have won the decarbindustry award this year. We would like to reproduce this kind of project to other locations too, #LikeABosch.

Rudolf Marevic, Service and Portfolio Management, Bosch Sicherheitssysteme GmbH Tweet

Lighthouse heat pump Award: ‘Heat the streets’, by Kensa Utilities.

Introduced by Patrick Crombez, General Manager for Heating and Renewables, EMEA, at Daikin Europe, and accepted by Lisa Treseder, Director of Business development at Kensa Utilities.

The Heat the Streets project showcased the feasibility of retrofitting ground source heat pumps to domestic properties at scale without a ‘fabric-first’ approach. It received partial funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and was conducted in rural Cornwall. The project demonstrated the potential for coordinated, mass deployment of ground source heat pumps in a networked fashion, successfully installing the world’s first in-road retrofit of a shared ground array and providing ground source heat pumps to over 100 properties, including new builds and retrofits, advancing the UK’s net-zero heating goals.

At the #HPForum, financing of heat pumps was a top priority. The focus was on selling heat services rather than commodities, which is exactly what we did on Heat the Streets. By treating the ground array infrastructure as a utility asset, we make it easier for our customers to say yes to heat pumps. Our model mimics the arrangements we already have with the gas network, making it very familiar to British households.

Lisa Treseder, Director of Business Development, Kensa Utilities Tweet

People’s Choice Award: the most popular heat pump project: ’AHT Rottenmann - Decarbonisation Project: Gas Boiler Replacement’ by Daikin Europe.

Introduced by Kaven Nourrice R&D Specialist at Frascold and accepted by Jan Logghe, Senior Manager at Daikin Europe.

AHT Rottenmann’s forward-looking Decarbonisation Project involved replacing gas boilers with a cutting-edge heat pump cascade, delivering a total heating capacity of 1,200kW. This sustainable system caters to the production facility of the plant, office building, and domestic hot water needs, aligning with the company’s commitment to eco-friendly practices.

We are exceptionally proud and thankful for the appreciation expressed by all the people who voted for our industrial heat pump project at AHT Rottenmann in Austria. Being awarded with the People Choice’s award shows our solutions to decarbonise the industry resonate with a wide audience, for which we are very grateful.

Jan Logghe, Senior Manager, Daikin Europe Tweet

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Anergy network based on CO2

ExerGo — Tue, 16 May 2023 13:04:37 +0000

This article was originally published in Le Bulletin Electrosuisse (February 2023 Edition).

The rapid evolution of thermal networks is an essential factor in the strategies developed to achieve the carbon reduction goals set for 2050. A CO₂-based anergy network such as the one installed on the Energypolis campus in Sion delivers an efficient and cost-effective solution for many applications where a standard water-based network is not feasible.

One quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions originate from energy systems used to heat or cool buildings. Consequently, this sector has a key part to play in the transition towards a carbon-free world. Its role is all the more important because energy demand related to heating and air-conditioning systems is continuously increasing, whereas the rate of building renovations (<1%) is substantially below the targets set by the Swiss Federal government.

However, reducing carbon emissions from heating and cooling systems in dense urban environments presents a real challenge. Given their high density, these areas are suitable for installing energy networks to deliver heat to consumers in urban centres from peripheral renewable sources, which are often easier to exploit. Nevertheless, practice shows that districts with higher densities are subject to more restrictions on network installations (underground congestion, paved roads, problems of ensuring traffic flows while work is in progress, etc.). CO₂-based anergy networks will be able to provide solutions for some of these challenges in future years.

What is an anergy network?

Anergy network technology has seen considerable development over the last 15 years. An anergy network (or loop) is a low-temperature thermal network (between 3 and 15°C) that offers heating services (via heat pumps) and cooling services (by direct cooling). These networks are particularly suitable for making efficient use of heat from the environment (lakes, rivers, groundwater, geothermal energy, etc.) and of waste heat, by taking advantage of synergies between heating and cooling demands. In this case, the low-temperature heat is transferred directly from the cooling consumers (refrigeration, cooling for IT equipment or process cooling, etc.) to the heating consumers (heat pumps).

The anergy networks that are currently operated use water in the liquid phase as the transfer fluid. To ensure compatibility not only with the temperature regimes imposed by air conditioning but also with those required by heat pumps, a small temperature difference is required between the two lines of the network (generally between 3 and 6°C): this results in a low volumetric energy density in the order of 3.3 to 6.6 kWh of low-temperature thermal energy per m³ of water transferred. This low density requires pipe diameters, excavations, and civil engineering works on a scale appropriate to the thermal power involved. The same applies to the electricity consumption of the pumps used to circulate the water in the network.

Benefits of a CO2-based anergy network

By exploiting the latent heat of evaporation/condensation of a fluid rather than its sensible heat, it becomes possible to supply the heat pumps and cold exchangers of an anergy network while significantly increasing its energy density and, consequently, reducing its footprint. For this purpose, the fluid used must have – at the temperature of the anergy network (3 to 15°C) – a high latent heat of evaporation/condensation as well as high densities and low viscosities for each of the liquid and gas phases.

CO₂ offers these characteristics (table 1). If we consider the average density for the gas and liquid phases, the low-temperature volumetric thermal energy density is between 24.1 and 31.3 kWh per m³ of CO₂ transferred, i.e., 3.6 to 9.5 times higher than the value for water. If all hydraulic constraints are considered, the footprint of a CO₂ anergy system is about 2 to 3 times smaller than that of an equivalent water-based system. A reduction on this scale also has a beneficial effect on the complexity of the installation work, which is greatly simplified because the components to be assembled are smaller and lighter. Consequently, the excavation work required is far less extensive. These advantages are counterbalanced by the relatively high pressure of the CO₂. At the network temperatures that apply here, the pressure is between 38 and 51 bar.

Accelerated development

Two characteristic features have made it possible to accelerate and scale this technology. Firstly, CO₂ has been used as a refrigerant since the end of the 19th century. As for other natural fluids such as propane or ammonia, its use was abandoned in the 1930s to make way for fluids that were later found to be harmful to the ozone layer (ozone depletion potential, ODP) and which have a high environmental impact (global warming potential, GWP).

Nowadays, CO₂ is once again attracting great interest and is used in industrial and commercial refrigeration thanks to its low environmental impact and to the high efficiency levels of machines available on the market. More than 40,000 CO₂-based commercial cooling/refrigeration systems were operating in Europe at the end of 2021 (in supermarkets, ice rinks, fruit and vegetable warehouses, etc.) [1]. This accelerated introduction of CO₂ for refrigeration purposes makes it easier to integrate existing components into the construction of a CO₂ network such as the one on the Energypolis campus in Sion – all the more so because the same standards apply to the substations and the machines.

Secondly, the petrochemical industry developed flexible pipes made of reinforced thermoplastic material, which enable the transportation of fluids at operating pressures in excess of 100 bar. Thanks to the two points mentioned above, the current level of technological development already makes it possible to construct installations with several MW of thermal power.

A demonstrator on the Energypolis campus site

Various research projects, mainly undertaken at the Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) between 2008 [2] and 2019 [3–7] have made it possible to develop the bases for implementing a network of significant size. ExerGo’s development work and competence in the realisation of the thermoplastic pipe network, Zero-C’s acknowledged expertise in the construction of CO₂installations, OIKEN’s provision of a connection to the renewable heat source (groundwater), together with project leadership and management of integration into the buildings by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO Valais), have created the favourable conditions required for the successful implementation of a CO₂-based heating and cooling distribution network demonstrator on the new site of the Energypolis campus at Sion, in the canton of Valais.

This installation aims to demonstrate the validity, reliability, and functional safety of the concept in its final form under real operating conditions, and to evaluate its performance in terms of energy efficiency and economic aspects.

The Sion demonstrator was installed as a redundant system alongside the district heating and cooling networks (DHN and DCN) which already supply the buildings (figure 1). This configuration offers maximum flexibility for the various performance tests because it enables the demonstrator to provide heating and cooling services, but the buildings do not depend on it to supply their heating and cooling.

More details about the configuration

The demonstrator comprises a central plant (balancing unit) the role of which is to extract heat from the thermal source available in the cold season (or, respectively, to inject heat into the source during the hot season), three substations – consumers of heating and/or cooling – and the CO₂ network as such, which links the substations to the central plant (figure 2).

The central plant consists of a heat exchanger between the CO₂ network and the renewable energy source (in this case, the groundwater connected via the DCN) and a buffer tank to equalise the network’s overall energy balance.

The network itself consists of a liquid-state CO₂ line and a gaseous-state CO₂ line; the CO₂ circulates in flexible pipes made of composite materials that can withstand pressures of more than 100 bar. The liquid line is under higher pressure than the gas line. The pressure difference between the lines (of the order of 1 to 2 bar) ensures the supply to the heat exchangers used for direct cooling – i.e., without the need to use cooling machines.

Each of the three substations (one per building) uses a heat exchanger to supply cooling and a heat pump to produce the temperature required for heating and domestic hot water (Figure 2). A substation only requires the network to supply the difference between its energy requirements for heating and cooling. In a theoretical example where the building has perfectly balanced cooling and heating demands, it will have no dependency on the network. The same applies to all the substations: if the net heating and cooling demands for all the buildings are zero, the central plant does not need to be supplied from its thermal source.

How the system functions

The total installed thermal power is 340 kW for heating and 450 kW for cooling. In winter, the heat pumps extract heat from the network by condensing the gaseous CO₂ and conveying the liquid CO₂ produced to the central plant. The central plant compensates for the deficit of gaseous CO₂ by evaporating the surplus of liquid CO2 with heat extracted from the groundwater.

In summer, the cooling circuit evacuates its heat by evaporating the liquid CO₂ from the network and conveys the gaseous CO₂ produced to the central plant. The central plant then compensates for the deficit of liquid CO₂ by condensing the surplus of gaseous CO2 with the heat released in the groundwater. A cooling machine has been installed in the central plant for demonstration purposes, to allow simulation of various source temperatures (e.g. river, groundwater or lake).

Towards optimising energy performance

The demonstrator began operating in cooling mode in May 2022, and then in heating mode in November 2022. As Figure 3 shows, it is already able to meet over 50% of the site’s thermal requirements, and to take advantage of the anergy effect – i.e., simultaneous production of heat and cold (in this case via the server room). Now that this demonstration of feasibility (proof of concept) has been established, current research efforts are focused on measuring its energy performance and on finding technical solutions (typically: for management of the installations) which will enable improvements.

References

[1] r744.com/atmosphere-europe-natural-refrigerant-technologies-seen-as-good-investment/
[2] C. Weber, “Multi-objective design and optimization of district energy systems including polygeneration energy conversion“, EPFL thesis no. 4018, 2008.
[3] S. Henchoz, “Potential of refrigerant based district heating and cooling networks“, EPFL thesis no. 6935, 2016.
[4] P. Chatelan, “Potentiels thermo-économiques comparés de réseaux avancés fonctionnant au CO₂ et à l’eau“, practical Masters project undertaken at the EPFL Industrial Energy Laboratory, 2014.
[5] S. Henchoz, C. Weber, F. Maréchal, D. Favrat, “Performance and profitability perspectives of a CO₂ based district energy network in Geneva’s city center“, Energy, Vol. 85, p. 221-235, 2015.
[6] S. Henchoz, P. Chatelan, F. Maréchal, D. Favrat, “Key energy and technological aspects of three innovative district energy networks“, Energy, Vol. 117, p. 465-477, 2016.
[7] R.-A. Suciu, “5th generation district energy systems for low carbon cities“, EPFL thesis no. 7332, 2019.

Authors

Cédric Dorsaz is a senior academic associate at HES-SO Valais.

HES-SO Valais-Wallis, 1950 Sion
dorsaz@hes-so.ch

Samuel Henchoz is the CTO of ExerGo SA.

ExerGo SA, 1400 Yverdon-les-Bains
henchoz@exergo.com

Alberto Mian is the CEO of ExerGo SA.

alberto.mian@exergo.com

Jessen Page is a professor at HES-SO Valais.

jessen.page@hes-so.ch

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) for funding the “CO₂ network demonstration” project through its pilot and demonstration programme, the Zero-C and OIKEN companies, and professor François Maréchal of EPFL, for their essential contributions to the success of this project.

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