Industrial heat pumps at ECCO
Heat pumps are a step towards energy neutrality for ECCO
Danish shoe manufacturer ECCO energy renovated their head office and warehouse in Tønder, Denmark. Fossil fuels have been replaced with energy from heat pumps, which emit significantly less CO2. A step towards the ambition of achieving energy neutrality at the group's head office by 2024.
At ECCO's conference centre in Tønder, Denmark, all buildings used to be heated with fossil fuels. Then they switched to a 440 KW ThermoNova heat pump. The heat pump heats approximately 6,000 square metres.
There's no getting around the fact that a 440 KW heat pump takes up space. Guests at ECCO's conference centre can look over at the heat pump, so it's important that they are both quiet and minimalistic in design, so it still looks nice.
ECCO wants to achieve energy neutrality at its head office by 2024, and one step towards achieving that goal is to replace fossil fuels with heat pumps.
"This has given us significantly lower CO2 emissions, and it also means a lot that the heat pumps run on propane, a natural refrigerant," explains Kjeld Mortensen, an electrician on site.
Due to fluctuating prices for both electricity and fossil fuels, the payback time is approximately 5-8 years.
The heat pump at the shoe warehouse in Tønder will heat approx. 22,000 square metres. The replacement was easy and uncomplicated.
"When we were installing heat pumps at the warehouse, I was told it would only take two days. Monday morning I fired up all the halls with full heat, Tuesday morning was for the installation and replacement, and Wednesday afternoon the heat pump was up and running. Our normal temperature in the warehouse is 20 degrees, and the lowest we got was 22 degrees, even though the installation took place in November. It went surprisingly fast," says Kjeld Mortensen, electrician at ECCO.
"It's important to me that our equipment and systems are reliable and just work. And it also means a lot to me that I can get help if problems arise - it gives me peace of mind that there is a technical backup," explains Kjeld Mortensen, electrician at ECCO.
Facts:
A total of four heat pumps have been installed.
- One 330 KW at the DC shoe warehouse, which will heat 22,000 square metres
- One 440 KW at ECCO's conference centre, which will heat 6,000 square metres
- One 110 KW at ECCO's sports hall, which will heat 3,500 square metres
- One 45 KW at a golf building, which will heat 700 square metres
About ThermoNova and Solar
ThermoNova develops and supplies a new and different type of modular heat pump that allows for large and energy-efficient heating solutions, especially in industry, warehouses, halls and large office buildings. In March 2023, Solar acquired 51 per cent of the shares in ThermoNova, which means that sales of heat pumps and larger projects now go through Solar under the climate and energy department Solar Industrial Solutions.
Other customers with a ThermoNova solution
Green transition in large Danish retailing group
