GEA joins nine-member EU consortium to advance heat pump solutions for decarbonisation
The EU project “Exquisheat” was launched in Brussels in October 2025. Nine partners from six European countries are working on the 36-month project to determine where heat pumps can achieve the greatest efficiency gains in the food and beverage sector and to develop reproducible and market-ready solutions. (Photo: EU project Exquisheat)
GEA has been named an official partner in the European Union’s Exquisheat project, a three-year initiative designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of Europe’s food and beverage industry.
The EU-funded programme will see GEA work alongside eight other partners to analyse industrial processes and develop standardised heat pump solutions for key applications such as pasteurisation, evaporation, and cooling.
The consortium brings together stakeholders from the food and heat pump industries, energy experts, and auditors, ensuring a comprehensive approach to both technical development and market adoption.
Industry associations will act as multipliers, disseminating findings across their networks to speed up the introduction of solutions into the market. A dedicated roundtable platform will also be established to foster direct collaboration between food and beverage producers and heat pump suppliers.
By connecting technology providers with end-users, Exquisheat contributes directly to the EU’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan and supports the Net Zero Industry Act, which aims to boost production capacity for net-zero technologies within Europe. The regulation sets a target for the EU to cover at least 40 percent of its annual demand for net-zero technologies by 2030, helping to meet climate neutrality goals by 2050 while strengthening competitiveness, creating jobs, and reducing energy dependence.
For GEA, Exquisheat marks its third major EU heat pump project. Previous initiatives include the development of an ammonia-based heat pump in 2017 and the commissioning of a high-temperature heat pump for Südzucker subsidiary Tiense Suiker in 2025 under the EU Spirit project.
Kenneth Hoffmann, GEA heat pump application director, said: “Expert panels have consistently selected GEA because of our experience in designing customized high-temperature heat pumps that deliver optimized efficiency across a wide temperature and performance range. Heat pumps are a critical enabler for industrial decarbonisation.”
Isabel Osterroth, GEA senior director sustainable engineering solutions, added that the food and beverage sector is particularly well-suited for heat pump integration due to its high heat demand, waste heat potential, and continuous production cycles.
“We are convinced that sustainable heat from industrial waste heat recovery will make an important contribution to decarbonising the European food industry. Through our GEA NEXUS approach, which combines food processing expertise with advanced heat pump and cooling solutions, we are already helping customers reduce emissions and energy costs.”
The project roadmap outlines 36 months of coordinated activity among partners, including process analysis to identify the most impactful integration points for heat pumps. Standardized solutions will be developed for four main applications: sanitary hot water, pasteurisation, evaporation, and cooling.
Alongside technical work, the consortium will run workshops, interviews, and stakeholder engagement activities to identify barriers and co-develop solutions tailored to industry needs. Business models, replication studies, and practical tools such as online checklists will be produced to support long-term adoption.
Comprehensive dissemination measures will ensure the results reach a wide audience across Europe, raising awareness of industrial heat pump technologies and promoting their uptake. With nine partners working together,
