Sustainability

Power-to-steam

Steam is one of the most important energy sources for the chemical production. We use it to dry our products or to heat reactors. When steam is generated from fossil fuels, CO₂ is produced. In future, we want to generate steam electrically and avoid these emissions. How this can be achieved?

In order to produce steam CO2-free in the future, BASF relies on electricity-based technologies such as e-Boilers and heat pumps. Additionally, e-Drives can reduce our demand for steam and allow us to replace steam directly with power.

Each of BASF's five largest production sites generates more than enough waste heat to meet its own demand for steam. So far, most of this waste heat remains unused. The task is to convert this waste heat into usable energy and use it to generate steam, for example. The key to this: industrial heat pumps.

How CO₂-free steam generation through energy recovery works

Infographic showing the efficient and CO2-free integration of heatpump technology into BASF’s Verbund system. The heatpumps will run on renewable energy and use waste heat from production plants to generate steam, which is then fed back into the Verbund system.

Construction of the world’s largest industrial heat pump for CO₂-free steam generation at the Ludwigshafen site

In October 2024, we received funding approval from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action for the construction of the world’s most powerful industrial heat pump.

The planned heat pump will have a capacity of up to 500,000 metric tons of steam per year. The waste heat, which is used as a thermal energy source, is generated during the cooling and cleaning of process gases in one of the two steam crackers at the site. Powered by electricity from renewable energy, CO₂-free steam is thus generated, and most of this steam is to be used in the production of formic acid. Here, the heat pump has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 98 percent. A smaller proportion of the CO₂-free steam is supplied to other BASF production plants via the steam network at the site. In total, the heat pump will reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the company’s headquarters by up to 100,000 metric tons per year.

News Release

BASF receives funding approval for the construction of the world’s largest industrial heat pump for CO2-free steam generation

Why does electricity-based steam play a key role in achieving the climate targets?

Currently, 50 % of our steam needs are met by gas and steam power plants, which produce greenhouse gas emissions. If we manage to generate steam without fossil fuels through new technologies, we can avoid an enormous amount of CO₂. Together with partners, we have started various technical feasibility studies. Promising technologies such as heat pumps, e-Boilers and e-Drives already exist today and can be used on an industrial scale. In this way, we are taking big steps towards our goal of reducing CO₂ emissions by 25 percent by 2030.

Which technology is the most promising?

Our chemical plants generate a lot of waste heat, which we can use for heat pumps. Heat pump technology compares favourably with other available technologies, such as e-Boilers, because heat pumps can produce more steam with the same amount of electricity - so they are particularly efficient. But each of our sites has different conditions, there is no "one size fits all" solution and we are taking a multi-pronged approach to reduce our emissions to net zero by 2050.

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Power-to-steam

Steam is one of the most important energy sources for the chemical production. We use it to dry our products or to heat reactors. When steam is generated from fossil fuels, CO2 is produced. In future, we want to generate steam electrically and avoid these emissions. How this can be achieved?

How CO2-free steam generation through energy recovery works

Construction of the world’s largest industrial heat pump for CO2-free steam generation at the Ludwigshafen site

Why does electricity-based steam play a key role in achieving the climate targets?

Which technology is the most promising?

Steam is one of the most important energy sources for the chemical production. We use it to dry our products or to heat reactors. When steam is generated from fossil fuels, CO₂ is produced. In future, we want to generate steam electrically and avoid these emissions. How this can be achieved?

How CO₂-free steam generation through energy recovery works

Construction of the world’s largest industrial heat pump for CO₂-free steam generation at the Ludwigshafen site