COMPANIES IN TRANSITION TOWARDS 100% RENEWABLES: FOCUS ON HEATING AND COOLING - IRENA ...
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COMPANIES IN TRANSITION TOWARDS 100% RENEWABLES: FOCUS ON HEATING AND COOLING
About the Coalition The IRENA Coalition for Action brings together leading renewable energy players from around the world with the common goal of advancing the uptake of renewable energy. The Coalition facilitates global dialogues between public and private sectors to develop actions to increase the share of renewables in the global energy mix and accelerate the global energy transition. About this paper This white paper has been developed jointly by members of the Coalition’s Working Group on Towards 100% Renewable Energy. Building on several case studies and first-hand interviews with companies, the paper showcases the opportunities and challenges experienced by companies in the industrial sector that have a target for 100% renewable electricity supply, and a meaningful and/or ambitious target or activities to increase the share of renewable energy in their heating and cooling operations. Acknowledgements Contributing authors: Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes (European Renewable Energies Federation), David Renné (International Solar Energy Society), Charlotte Hornung (former Energy Watch Group), Namiz Musafer (Integrated Development Association), Duncan Gibb and Chetna Hareesh Kumar (REN21), Aleksandra Mirowicz (The Climate Group), Stephanie Weckend, Emma Åberg, Kelly Tai and Anindya Bhagirath under the supervision of Rabia Ferroukhi (IRENA). Further acknowledgements: Valuable feedback and review were provided by Constantinos Peonides (Alectris), Britta Schaffmeister and Anton Schaap (Dutch Marine Energy Centre), Steven Vanholme (EKOenergy), Rohit Sen (ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability), Roque Pedace (INFORSE), Monica Oliphant (International Solar Energy Society), Tomas Kåberger (Renewable Energy Institute), Andrzej Ceglarz (Renewables Grid Initiative), Katerin Osorio Vera (SER Colombia), Jon Lezamiz Cortazar (Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy), Maria Rojas and Tessa Lee (The Climate Group), Rina Bohle Zeller (Vestas), Bharadwaj Kummamuru (World Bioenergy Association), Anna Skowron (World Future Council), Jesse Fahnestock (former World Wide Fund for Nature), and Diala Hawila, Emanuele Bianco, Gayathri Prakash, Jinlei Feng and Nicholas Wagner (IRENA). The IRENA Coalition for Action would like to express special thanks and gratitude to senior representatives of companies interviewed for the case studies in this paper, including Flemming Lynge Nielsen, Rikke Skou Melsen and Martin Oredson Haugaard (Danfoss), Ishafir Izzadeen and Priyantha Dissanayake (Elpitiya Plantations PLC), Olaf Höhn (Florida Eis), Andreas Werner (Goess Brewery), Winston Chen and Paul Simons (Mars), and Kim Andre Lovas (TINE Group). Stefanie Durbin edited and Myrto Petrou designed this report. © IRENA 2021 Unless otherwise stated, material in this publication may be freely used, shared, copied, reproduced, printed and/or stored, provided that appropriate acknowledgement is given to IRENA as the source and copyright holder. Material in this publication that is attributed to third parties may be subject to separate terms of use and restrictions, and appropriate permissions from these third parties may need to be secured before any use of such material. ISBN: 978-92-9260-323-6 Citation: IRENA Coalition for Action (2021), Companies in transition towards 100% renewables: Focus on heating and cooling, International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi. Disclaimer This publication and the material herein are provided “as is”. All reasonable precautions have been taken by IRENA and the IRENA Coalition for Action to verify the reliability of the material in this publication. However, neither IRENA, the IRENA Coalition for Action, nor any of its officials, agents, data or other third-party content providers provides a warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, and they accept no responsibility or liability for any consequence of use of the publication or material herein. The information contained herein does not necessarily represent the views of all Members of IRENA or Members of the Coalition. Mentions of specific companies, projects or products do not imply any endorsement or recommendation. The designations employed and the presentation of material herein do not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of IRENA or the IRENA Coalition for Action concerning the legal status of any region, country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries.
CONTENTS
FIGURES, TABLES AND BOXES..................................................................................................... 4
ABBREVIATIONS......................................................................................................................... 5
KEY FINDINGS............................................................................................................................ 6
1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................... 7
2. DECARBONISING HEATING AND COOLING IN INDUSTRY.................................................... 10
2.1 Industry: The largest energy consumer....................................................................................................... 10
2.2 Renewable heating and cooling technologies and applications............................................................. 12
2.3 Sourcing models for renewable heating and cooling............................................................................... 14
3. ACCELERATING CORPORATE SOURCING OF RENEWABLE HEATING AND COOLING............ 16
3.1 Corporate target setting and drivers........................................................................................................... 16
3.2 The renewable heating and cooling challenge.......................................................................................... 19
4. KEY TAKEAWAYS AND LESSONS LEARNED............................................................................. 20
5. CASE STUDIES: COMPANIES IN TRANSITION ................................................................................ 23
Danfoss.................................................................................................................................................................... 24
Elpitiya Plantations.................................................................................................................................................27
Florida Eis................................................................................................................................................................ 31
Goess Brewery........................................................................................................................................................ 34
Mars ..........................................................................................................................................................................37
TINE Group - New Dairy Bergen........................................................................................................................... 41
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................. 45
4 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
FIGURES, TABLES
AND BOXES
Figure 1: Total final energy consumption in the industrial sector, 2017..........................................................................10
Figure 2: Working temperatures for various renewable heat technologies..................................................................12
Figure 3: Existing and potential corporate sourcing models for renewable heating and cooling..........................14
Figure 4: Corporate renewable energy targets......................................................................................................................16
Figure 5: Drivers for increasing renewable heating and cooling in industry.................................................................17
Figure 6: Number of countries with policies for renewable heating and cooling, 2009-2019................................18
Figure 7: Barriers to increasing renewable heating and cooling in industry.................................................................19
Table 1: Overview of featured company case studies......................................................................................................... 23
Table 2: Elpitiya Plantations energy generation and consumption by source, FY 2019/20.................................... 27
Box 1: Definition of 100% renewable energy............................................................................................................................ 7
Box 2: IRENA Coalition for Action Towards 100% Renewable Energy Working Group.............................................. 9
Box 3: Corporate sourcing of renewable electricity............................................................................................................... 11
F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 5 ABBREVIATIONS AEE INTEC AEE Institute for Sustainable Technologies °C Degree Celsius CHP Combined heat and power CO2 Carbon dioxide EPP Elpitiya Plantations PLC EUR Euro EV Electric vehicle GW Gigawatt GWh Gigawatt-hour hl Hectolitre HVO Hydrotreated vegetable oil IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change kW Kilowatt kWh Kilowatt-hour kWhel Kilowatt-hour of electricity LPG Liquefied petroleum gas LUT Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland) MW Megawatt MWh Megawatt-hour MWheq Megawatt-hour equivalent NGO Nongovernmental organisation PPA Power purchase agreement PV Photovoltaic SDG Sustainable development goal TFEC Total final energy consumption TWh Terawatt-hour USD United States dollar UTS University of Technology Sydney (Australia)
6 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
KEY FINDINGS
Driven by the cost-competitiveness of renewables With heating and cooling representing
and growing calls for sustainability amongst approximately 75% of energy used in industry,
investors and consumers, renewables have become which accounts for more than 25% of the global
an attractive source of energy for corporate users final energy consumption, the sector will play a
around the world. crucial role in the energy transformation towards
100% renewables. Currently, renewable energy
While companies are increasingly sourcing
only accounts for approximately 13% of total final
renewable electricity, the sourcing of renewable
energy consumption in industry.
heating and cooling is still in the early stages of
development due to, among other factors, its To further scale up corporate sourcing of renewable
context-specific and decentralised nature. heating and cooling in the industrial sector, the
following key takeaways may serve as guidance
and inspiration for governments and companies.
Setting national and subnational targets for 100% renewable
energy across all end-use sectors, including heating and
cooling, is key to driving the energy transformation in the
industrial sector.
Long-term government planning is particularly important for
decarbonising heating and cooling in industry.
Implementing ambitious regulatory, fiscal and financial policies
and incentives will help increase the share of renewables in
Key takeaways heating and cooling.
for governments Improving access to private capital for energy transition-related
technologies will encourage essential long-term investments.
Exploring innovative sourcing models for renewable heating
and cooling will further scale up progress.
Switching to renewable energy heating and cooling
brings important benefits beyond emission reduction.
Setting long-term corporate renewable heating and
cooling targets and implementation strategies accelerates
the decarbonisation of operations.
Considering the local context is key when choosing among
available pathways and technologies for renewable heating
and cooling.
Coupling renewable energy sourcing with measures to reduce
energy demand and improve energy efficiency is crucial.
Conducting further research and development across innovative
Key takeaways renewable energy technologies and infrastructure for heating
for companies and cooling is needed.
Improving data collection on companies’ renewable heating
and cooling operations can help monitor and adjust strategies
in support of established decarbonisation targets.
By working with local actors, such as governments, utilities,
communities and NGOs, companies can further accelerate the
energy transformation.
F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 7
INTRODUCTION 01
The objectives set out in the United Nations 2030 Renewable energy and related enabling
Agenda and the Paris Agreement can only be met technologies, as well as energy efficiency, have
through an urgent and complete decarbonisation proven to be resilient and increasingly cost-
of our entire energy system. This requires that all competitive solutions for supplying a growing
of our energy needs – power, heating and cooling, range of sectors and applications around the
and transportation – are reliably met by 100% world. Today, the costs of solar and wind projects
renewable energy, and are accessible to all people are competitive with coal- and gas-fired plants
(see Box 1). almost everywhere, and renewable power capacity
growth has been outpacing new installed capacity
in fossil fuels for the past decade (IRENA, 2020a).
Box 1 Definition of 100% renewable energy
The IRENA Coalition for Action has agreed on the following definition for 100% renewable energy:*
Renewable energy encompasses all renewable resources, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower,
ocean, solar and wind energy. One hundred percent renewable energy means that all sources of energy to
meet all end-use energy needs in a certain location, region or country are derived from renewable energy
resources 24 hours per day, every day of the year. Renewable energy can either be produced locally to meet
all local end-use energy needs (power, heating and cooling, and transport) or can be imported from outside
of the region using supportive technologies and infrastructure such as electrical or gas transmission systems,
hydrogen or heated water. Any storage facilities to help balance the energy supply must also use energy
derived only from renewable resources.
*Companies featured in the case studies may apply different definitions when referring to 100% renewable energy.
While renewables account for approximately The industrial sector has a particularly important
25% of global electricity consumption, the share role to play, representing a considerable share of
of modern renewables1 in global demand for global heating and cooling use. In total, around
heating and cooling is just 10% (IRENA, IEA 75% of final energy use in the industrial sector is
and REN21, 2020). Decarbonising heating and for heating and cooling, which accounts for more
cooling remains critical as these end-uses than 25% of the global final energy consumption.
account for approximately 50% of total final
energy consumption globally (IRENA, IEA and
REN21, 2020).
1 Modern renewables include all renewables with the exception of traditional uses of biomass for cooking and heating with negative
environmental and socio-economic impacts.
8 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
More and more companies in the industrial sector The Coalition for Action Working Group on
are now seeing the need to decarbonise their “Towards 100% Renewable Energy” has produced a
operations in all end-uses by switching from series of white papers and analyses that document
fossil fuels to renewables, not only as a way to case studies and best practices for achieving 100%
demonstrate corporate social responsibility but renewable energy, including recommendations to
also to improve their financial performance and policy makers on how to support an accelerated
carbon footprint. energy transformation (see Box 2).
To accelerate the decarbonisation of heating This white paper examines the technical,
and cooling, significantly scaled-up efforts are economic and policy opportunities available
however required from both the public and to, and challenges faced by, companies in the
private sectors. At the end of 2019, only 49 industrial sector trying to integrate high shares
countries had national targets for renewable of renewables into their heating and cooling
heating and cooling, compared to the 166 countries operations. Companies featured as case studies in
that had national targets for renewable electricity. this paper have already set, or achieved, a 100%
As governments move forward with green renewable energy target for the power sector and
recovery packages in response to the COVID-19 are engaged in ambitious activities to increase
pandemic, they have a unique opportunity to the share of renewables used in their heating and
accelerate and enable the transformation to cooling operations.
100% renewable energy in all end-uses, including
heating and cooling. Stimulus packages targeting Following this introduction, this white paper
the industrial sector can increase the uptake is organised as follows: Chapter 2 elaborates
of renewables. Besides making local industries on the role of industrial players in the energy
resilient in the long-term, investing in renewables transformation, focusing on heating and cooling;
and related infrastructure will also bring much Chapter 3 examines companies’ drivers, barriers
needed socio-economic, health, climate and and target setting for renewable heating and
environmental benefits. Although many companies cooling; Chapter 4 summarises key takeaways on
are increasingly sourcing renewable electricity, how to scale up the share of renewables in heating
setting targets in other end-uses, including and cooling operations; and finally, Chapter 5
heating and cooling, will be crucial to accelerate presents company case studies based on first-
the energy transformation. hand interviews with representatives of the
industrial sector.
Photo: Flemming Lynge Nielsen/Danfoss
CO 2 neutral district energy plant suppling Danfoss headquarters, Denmark
F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 9
Box 2 IRENA Coalition for Action Towards 100% Renewable Energy Working Group
Established in 2018, the IRENA Coalition for Action Towards 100% Renewable Energy Working Group has
produced a series of white papers and analyses that document case studies and best practices for achieving
100% renewable energy. These analytical outputs include a comprehensive mapping of 100% renewable
energy targets at national and subnational levels, as well as key messages to policy makers on how to support
an accelerated energy transformation.
The Working Group’s first white paper analysed the transformation to a 100% renewable energy system from
the point of view of national and subnational governments (IRENA Coalition for Action, 2019). A second white
paper followed, focusing on utilities in transition towards 100% renewable energy and addressing energy
generation, transmission and distribution in the electricity sector (IRENA Coalition for Action, 2020).
This third white paper offers a logical follow-up to the previous two by exploring the barriers and necessary
incentives for companies who have already set ambitions for 100% renewable electricity to specifically increase
the share of renewables in their heating and cooling operations.
Coalition for Action white paper series – Towards 100% renewable energy
TOWARDS 100%
RENEWABLE ENERGY:
TOWARDS 100%
RENEWABLE ENERGY: UTILITIES IN TRANSITION
STATUS, TRENDS AND LESSONS LEARNED
COMPANIES IN TRANSITION
TOWARDS 100% RENEWABLES:
FOCUS ON HEATING AND COOLING
2019 2020 2021
10 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
DECARBONISING
02 HEATING AND COOLING
IN INDUSTRY
This chapter provides an overview of how applications for industrial operations, as well
renewable energy is or can be used for heating and as options available to companies for sourcing
cooling2 in the industrial sector. Particular focus renewable heating and cooling.
is placed on renewable energy technologies and
2.1 Industry: The largest energy consumer
The past two decades have seen increasing As illustrated in Figure 1, of the industry’s TFEC in
growth in the overall energy consumption of 2017, 36% came from coal, 24% from electricity,
industry. In 2017, the sector was responsible for 18% from natural (fossil) gas and 10% from oil,
approximately one-third of the world’s total final with the rest coming from biomass, district heat,
energy consumption (TFEC), largely driven by solar thermal and geothermal (IRENA, 2020b).
rising demand for, and manufacturing of industrial To accelerate the decarbonisation of our energy
products in a broad variety of subsectors. The system, the 13% share of renewables in TFEC has
industrial sector, including industrial processes, to significantly increase. Most of the renewables
also accounts for approximately one third of global in the industrial sector are supplied by bioenergy
energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in subsectors such as pulp and paper and other
(IRENA, 2020b). industries that produce on-site biomass waste and
residues.
Figure 1: Total final energy consumption in the industrial sector, 2017
1% Solar thermal & geothermal
4% District heat 7% Biomass
10% Oil
18% Natural (fossil) gas
36% Coal
24% Electricity
Source: IRENA (2020b)
2 Heating and cooling in this white paper refers to “applications of thermal energy, including space and water heating, space cooling,
refrigeration, drying, and heat produced in the industrial process. It includes the use of electricity for heating and cooling” (IRENA,
IEA and REN21, 2020).F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 11
The Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the Finland, working in collaboration with the Energy
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Watch Group, and the University of Technology
(IPCC), emphasise that countries should Sydney (UTS) in Australia show pathways to a fully
undertake urgent action to prevent global renewables-based energy supply across all sectors
warming from exceeding 1.5°C (degrees Celsius) by 2050 to remain within the 1.5°C target (Ram et
above preindustrial levels (IPCC, 2018). This al., 2019) (Teske, 2019).
will require the reduction of all greenhouse gas
emissions to net zero by mid-century (IPCC, While industry has traditionally relied on centralised
2018). According to IRENA’s Transforming systems to procure its mostly fossil-fuel based
Energy Scenario, outlining an energy pathway to electricity supply, more and more companies in
“well-below 2°C”, the share of renewables in the the industrial sector and beyond have started to
industrial sector must increase to 29% by 2030 increase the share of renewables in their operations.
and 62% by 2050 (IRENA, 2020b). However, the This is especially the case for electricity supply,
Transforming Energy Scenario still forecasts some for which a range of renewables sourcing options
energy-related greenhouse gas emissions at mid- are available in the market (IRENA, 2018) (see
century, including for the industrial sector. Under more in Box 3 on corporate sourcing of renewable
IRENA’s Deeper Decarbonisation Scenario, in electricity). However, the corporate sourcing of
which emissions are projected to decrease to zero renewable heating and cooling is still in the early
and limit temperature rise to 1.5°C, a significant stages of development given its context-specific
additional increase in renewables’ share will be and decentralised nature. With heating and
needed (IRENA, forthcoming). cooling making up approximately 75% of energy
used in industry, (90 exajoules), there is significant
Other scenarios suggest even higher shares of up potential to accelerate the decarbonisation of
to 100% renewable energy use in industry. Both industry through renewables (REN21, 2020).
Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) in
Box 3 Corporate sourcing of renewable electricity
Companies in the commercial and industrial sector account for roughly two-thirds of the world’s end-use
of electricity. With increased electrification of the sector’s heating, cooling and transport processes, the
commercial and industrial sector is expected to continue consuming a large share of electricity going forward.
As early as 2017, corporates had sourced over 465 terawatt-hours (TWh) of renewable electricity and more than
70 countries had put specific enabling frameworks for corporate sourcing in place (IRENA, 2018). According to
BloombergNEF, corporations are increasingly signing corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) and have
cumulatively purchased almost 80 gigawatts (GW) of renewable electricity globally since 2011 (BNEF, 2021).
In 2020 alone, companies purchased 23.7 GW of renewable electricity through corporate PPAs, exhibiting
momentum despite the impacts of COVID-19 (BNEF, 2021).
Several company-led initiatives have emerged to further facilitate corporate sourcing of renewable power.
The global RE100 initiative, led by the Climate Group and the Carbon Disclosure Project, brings together over
280 of the largest companies in the world that have pledged to power their operations using 100% renewable
electricity by 2050 at the latest. RE100 companies have a combined electricity consumption of over 315 TWh
per year. BloombergNEF estimates suggest that these companies will need to purchase an additional 269
TWh of renewables by 2030 to meet their 2030 targets, which is equivalent to over USD 98 billion (US dollars)
of investment in renewable electricity (The Climate Group, 2020; BNEF, 2021). In recent years, several other
local initiatives have emerged, such as the US Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA, 2020) and the Indian
Green Power Market Development Group (GPMDG, 2020).12 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
2.2 Renewable heating and cooling technologies
and applications
Alongside energy efficiency, renewable energy will When identifying viable renewable heating and
play a key role in decarbonising heating and cooling cooling solutions for a given industrial application,
operations. A broad range of renewable energy it is important to consider the variation in the
technologies and applications to meet industry’s energy intensity of industrial processes across
heating and cooling needs already exist, such as subsectors. Iron and steel, cement, and chemicals
renewables-based electrification, renewable gases, production are among the most energy-
the direct use of renewables through solar thermal intensive subsectors and the most challenging to
or geothermal, and the sustainable use of biomass. decarbonise because they require high processing
Further, new technologies are being explored such temperatures, whereas pulp and paper, wood
as sea water air conditioning. products, and the food and beverage sectors use
medium and low process temperatures (IRENA,
IEA and REN21, 2020). Figure 2 provides an
overview of the working temperatures for various
renewable energy technologies.
Figure 2: Working temperatures for various renewable heat technologies
Total final energy consumption in the industrial sector
Heat pumps
Geothermal
Solar thermal
Bioenergy
C
Electricity
Green Hydrogen
0 200 400 600 800 1 000 ...
Source: IRENA, IEA and REN21 (2020)
Renewables-based electrification for energy-efficient heat pumps, radiators, electric
or hybrid hot boilers, refrigerators, and other
An increasing number of industrial players are
equipment. To achieve further efficiency gains
looking at renewables-based electrification of
and cost reductions, many companies combine
various end-uses, including higher-temperature
efficient heat pumps and waste recovery. Under
processes where direct utilisation of renewables
IRENA’s Transforming Energy Scenario, renewable
faces technical limitations (REN21, 2019). electricity is expected to account for a growing
Renewable electricity is now employed to meet percentage of energy utilised in industry, reaching
thermal demands of industrial processes such as approximately 35% of overall energy consumed by
drying, refrigeration, and packaging and hardening the industrial sector by 2050 – an increase from
for metal production. This involves electricity use just 7% today (IRENA, 2020b).F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 13
Renewable gases Biomass
Renewable gases have the potential to replace As of today, 90% of the renewable energy
natural (fossil) gas (IRENA, 2020b) commonly supplied for heat in the industrial sector comes
used in high-temperature applications in the iron, from bioenergy, primarily derived from biomass.
steel, chemical and petrochemical industries, Biomass is predominantly used in the pulp
among others (IRENA, 2020c). Renewable gases – and paper, forestry, wood products, and food
including biogas, biomethane and green hydrogen industries. In these industries, biomass waste and
produced from 100% renewable electricity or residues are typically produced on-site and then
biogas – can replace natural (fossil) gas in many re-used as fuels. Potential remains to extend the
of its uses by leveraging relevant parts of existing use of biomass and the efficiency with which it
gas networks. One solution that has gained much is used in industry. With some adaptations to
attention lately is green hydrogen. Green hydrogen ensure compatibility across production processes,
offers an alternative route to harness the potential biomass can be used not only for low-temperature
of renewable electricity where direct electrification heat, but also in high-temperature applications
can be challenging (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2020). such as in the cement industry, where companies
Green hydrogen can produce high-temperature are turning to solid biomass to replace coal.
(>400°C) industrial heat (e.g., for melting, In some countries, biomass is even used to
gasifying, drying) for which renewable alternatives produce cement and iron, processes that require
to fossil fuels are currently limited. Green hydrogen, temperatures ranging up to 600°C (IRENA, IEA
moreover, has an important role as substitute of and REN21, 2020). The extent to which bioenergy
“grey” and “blue” hydrogen (traditional hydrogen contributes to greenhouse gas emission reduction
produced from fossil fuels) as a feedstock in the targets, and whether its widespread development
chemical industry (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2020). would have positive or negative environmental,
social or economic impacts – for instance related
Direct use of renewables for heating to biodiversity or landscape preservation –
remains controversial for some forms of bioenergy.
The electrification of industrial heating and
Sustainability of bioenergy sourcing and use is
cooling can be complemented by the direct
an important requirement for its widespread
use of renewable energy for heating (IRENA,
development (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2020).
2020c). This includes the use of solar thermal
and geothermal technologies. Solar thermal
While electrification and the direct use of
technologies have the potential to supply energy
renewable energy technologies can cover a
for temperatures between 20°C and 400°C and
wide range of industrial heating and cooling
are used mainly for preheating water, drying and
processes and temperatures, the additional use of
generating low-temperature steam in industries
energy-efficient technologies further accelerates
such as food and beverage production, textiles
the deployment of renewables in heating and
and agriculture (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2020). Hot
cooling by reducing the required process heat
water from geothermal energy can supply process
temperatures (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2020).
heat for pulp and paper processing, greenhouse
heating, dairy processing, and wood curing for
temperatures above 300°C (IRENA, IEA and
REN21, 2020). In general, direct use of renewables
for industrial process heat occurs mainly in lower-
temperature applications (REN21, 2020).14 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
2.3 Sourcing models for renewable heating and cooling
In an effort to decarbonise operations, many While the availability of sourcing models for
companies in the industrial sector are looking to renewable electricity has advanced significantly
increase the share of renewables in their energy over the years, sourcing options for renewable
supplies. heating and cooling are still in their infancy.
They remain highly dependent on available
For companies that have started to shift industrial infrastructure and renewable resources on-site
processes towards increased electrification, or in close proximity. New sourcing mechanisms
a growing range of options are available for that facilitate easy access to renewable heating
sourcing renewables. In addition to self-generating and cooling will be critical to scale up corporate
renewable electricity or sourcing renewable sourcing of renewables and accelerate the rapid
electricity through unbundled energy attribute decarbonisation of industry.
certificates, many companies are signing long-
term corporate PPAs or purchasing renewable Figure 3 illustrates existing and potential corporate
energy through utility green procurement sourcing models for renewable heating and
green procurement programmes (see Box 3) cooling.
(IRENA, 2018).
Figure 3: Existing and potential corporate sourcing models for renewable
heating and cooling
Self-generation Renewable heating and cooling Energy attribute certificates for
offerings from utilities renewable heating and cooling
A company invests in its own renewable A company has options of purchasing A company purchases attribute certificates
energy systems, on-site or off-site, to produce renewable heating or cooling from local of renewable heating and cooling through
renewable heating and cooling primarily for utilities, including from the district heating a certificate market system.
self-consumption. or gas network.
Source: IRENA (2021)
Self-generation Austria use on-site biomass, which meet 23%
Some companies produce renewable energy on- and 42% of their heat demand respectively (see
site for their heating and cooling operations. Chapter 5 and case studies). Another option for
This model is particularly used in industries self-generation includes the installation of heat
that generate biomass waste and residues on- pumps or converting self-generated electricity into
site, which are subsequently re-used as fuels heating or cooling. For example, Danish industrial
for production processes requiring heating and Danfoss has installed heat pumps in order to
cooling operations. Companies like Elpitiya recover heat from its water cooling processes (see
Plantations in Sri Lanka and Goess Brewery in Chapter 5 and case studies).F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 15
Renewable heating and cooling offerings from certificates as well as a market mechanism for
utilities trading these. Being able to claim environmental
sustainability effectively and efficiently is critical
In some locations, options may be available for
to companies, and therefore raises a need for
companies to purchase renewable heating or
a certificate market for renewable heating and
cooling from local utilities, including from the
cooling to promote certainty, prevent double-
district heating or gas network. Several local
counting and enable regulators to oversee claims
environmental and renewable energy consumer
and activities related to the corporate sourcing of
labels have emerged for district heating, including
renewable heating and cooling.
“Bra Milijöval” in Sweden and “NatureMade” in
Switzerland. These third-party labels not only While the procurement of certificates for renewable
impose criteria on the source of the heat itself, but heating and cooling is still limited, it may become
also other aspects of heat production including an important driver for companies to invest in the
transportation and process energy at the plant near future. For corporate sourcing of renewable
(IRENA, 2018). Based on these criteria, district electricity, many companies started off by
heating providers can certify/label all or part of purchasing renewable energy certificates, before
their heat production and offer this labelled district progressing towards more complex additional
heating to their customers at premium rates – sourcing models after gaining some experience and
so called “green premium products” or “green as markets had further evolved to accommodate
tariffs”. While such options are broadly available for increasing corporate demand. Similarly, energy
electricity already, they could be further scaled-up attribute certificates for renewable heating and
for renewable heating, to provide utility customers cooling may increase demand for corporate
with additional procurement options. For example, sourcing.
Mölndal Energi in Sweden offers its customers
For example, the Guarantees of Origin certificate
(both households and businesses) both
system for the European renewable electricity
environmentally labelled electricity and district
market is being revised jointly in mid-2021 by the
heating (IRENA Coalition for Action, 2020). The
European Committee for Standardization (CEN)
utility also recently announced a new collaboration
and the European Committee for Electrotechnical
that will supply the cities’ life-science industry
Standardization (CENELEC) to include renewable
cluster with renewable heating and cooling
heating and cooling, in an effort to support
(Energinyheter, 2020).
the objectives listed in the Renewable Energy
Directive II – which falls under the European
Energy attribute certificates for renewable
Green Deal actions (CEN CENELEC, 2020).3 In
heating and cooling
North America, initiatives such as the Renewable
As companies move towards supplying their Thermal Collaborative and Green-e are working
heating and cooling operations with renewables, with industry and policy makers to assess the
it is important to create a recognised accounting feasibility of energy attribute certificates for
framework for renewable heating and cooling renewable heating and cooling.
3 CEN and CENELEC are two private international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that convene the national standards
agencies of 34 countries and provide a platform for the development of European Standards and other technical specifications
across a variety of sectors.16 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
ACCELERATING
CORPORATE SOURCING
03 OF RENEWABLE HEATING
AND COOLING
This chapter provides an overview of how The purpose of the survey was to better understand
companies source renewables for their heating corporate strategies, including target setting
and cooling operations based on an analysis and ambitions, as well as drivers and barriers for
of companies that participated in a survey.4,5 renewable heating and cooling.
3.1 Corporate target setting and drivers
Corporate renewable energy targets play an IRENA’s findings indicate that while only one-fifth of
important role in forecasting companies’ medium- corporations in the commercial and industrial
and long-term expectations and commitments to sector that source renewable electricity have
transitioning their operations towards sustainable committed to a renewable electricity target, it is
processes in line with global and national climate even less common for companies to set specific
objectives. renewable energy targets for other end-uses, such
as heating and cooling (IRENA, 2018).
Even as an increasing number of companies
commit to ambitious renewable energy targets
The companies surveyed reported having a
for their electricity supply, target setting is not yet
combination of multiple targets that impacted their
commonplace for heating and cooling.
energy use for heating and cooling operations, as
highlighted in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Corporate renewable energy targets
Renewable heating and/or cooling targets
Direct targets
Renewable electricity targets
Renewable energy targets
Decarbonisation targets
Indirect targets
Emissions targets
Energy efficiency standards and targets
Source: IRENA (2021)
4 The company survey jointly undertaken by IRENA and the Climate Group was launched in November 2020 and circulated to EP100
and RE100 member companies, as well as the companies featured as case studies in Chapter 5 of this white paper. EP100 brings
together a group of 123 energy-smart companies committed to using energy more productively, to lower greenhouse gas emissions
and accelerate a clean economy. RE100 is a global initiative bringing together over 280 of the world’s most influential businesses
driving the transition to 100% renewable electricity.
5 The reporting companies are private sector companies from a variety of countries around the world, with a range of 25 to 100 000
employees. The survey had 17 respondents. All survey responses have been used only in aggregated form to maintain the privacy of
reporting companies’ disclosed information. The survey was divided into three sections – target setting, drivers and barriers.
Reporting companies’ disclosed information uses data from 2019 and 2020.F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 17
Trends show companies adopt multiple This is in stark contrast to companies increasingly
targets simultaneously that cover a variety of setting direct renewable electricity targets (IRENA,
sustainability and decarbonisation ambitions. In 2018).
terms of direct targets impacting companies’
heating and cooling operations, only one-third had From the companies surveyed, the main drivers for
set specific renewable heating and cooling targets. increasing the share of renewables in companies’
Almost 80% of companies surveyed had adopted heating and cooling operations can be grouped
at least one indirect target, including emissions into five categories, as illustrated in Figure 5.
targets, energy efficiency targets or standards, Key drivers considered to be of importance
or decarbonisation targets. Overall, survey results to companies include, in descending order:
indicate that companies wanting to decarbonise environment and sustainability; corporate social
heating and cooling are more likely to set indirect responsibility and company reputation; customer,
targets with broader climate and sustainability shareholder and staff demand; economical savings
objectives as opposed to direct renewable heating and price stability; policy incentives; and fiscal and
and cooling targets. financial incentives.
Figure 5: Drivers for increasing renewable heating and cooling in industry
Environment and sustainability
Corporate social responsibility and company reputation
Corporate Customer, shareholder and staff demand
drivers Economical savings and price stability
Policy incentives
Fiscal and financial incentives
Source: IRENA (2021)
Environment and sustainability was ranked as well as demonstrating concrete actions addressing
one of the most important drivers by companies. shareholder, customer and staff concerns with
With the industrial sector being the largest energy regard to companies’ sustainable operations and
consumer with a significant climate impact, processes. To this end, renewable energy target
reducing greenhouse gas emissions has become setting is a useful tool for companies to signal
a priority for companies (IRENA, 2020b) (IRENA, their sustainability performance as well as future
IEA and REN21, 2020). Furthermore, fossil fuel use investment and growth opportunities to investors,
and the inefficient burning of biomass for heating customers and governments (IRENA, 2015).
and cooling contribute significantly to air pollution,
resulting in concerns over poor air quality and Economical savings and price stability also
threats to public health. Transitioning to higher motivate companies to switch to renewables.
shares of renewable energy in companies’ heating More specifically, they include improved financial
and cooling processes will become increasingly savings through reduced energy costs, energy
critical as companies act to address climate change efficiency savings, as well as less exposure to
and sustainability concerns. volatility in energy prices due to the price stability
of renewable energy options. For instance, carbon
Companies also highlighted corporate social pricing policies and emissions trading schemes
responsibility and company reputation along with have rendered biomass heating to be more cost-
customer, shareholder and staff demand as critical effective compared to fossil fuels (IRENA, IEA and
drivers. These include maintaining a public image REN21, 2020).
as an active agent in the energy transformation as18 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
Furthermore, by setting new or more ambitious With companies facing high upfront investment
renewable heating and cooling targets and costs, fiscal and financial incentives in the form of
implementing supporting policies, governments tax credits, and grants for renewable heating and
can provide companies with clear and long-term cooling technologies and sustainability schemes
policy signals that encourage them to set their – as well as widely-adopted renewable energy
own corporate targets. standards, certifications and regulations – further
incentivise companies to invest in renewables.
Figure 6 illustrates existing renewable heating and
cooling regulatory and financial policies across
countries.
Figure 6: Number of countries with policies for renewable heating and cooling,
2009-2019
Number of countries
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Countries with only financial policies Total countries with financial or regulatory
Countries with both financial and regulatory policies policies for renewable heating and cooling
Countries with only regulatory policies
Source: IRENA, IEA and REN21 (2020)F O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 19
3.2 The renewable heating and cooling challenge
While companies are increasingly driven to set and in their heating and cooling operations. Figure 7
achieve ambitious renewable energy targets, they illustrates some of the key barriers considered by
also experience various barriers that hinder their companies to be of importance in this context.
progress towards scaling up renewable energy use
Figure 7: Barriers to increasing renewable heating and cooling in industry
Fossil fuel lock-in
Cost competitiveness of conventional energy solutions
Lack of access to finance
Competing internal priorities for capital expenditure
Lack of available technologies
Corporate
New investments in cost-intensive advanced technologies
barriers
Sparse information and data on renewable energy
solutions for industrial processes
Regulatory and policy uncertainty and complexity
Lack of government support measures
Structural and behavioural barriers
Source: IRENA (2021)
Survey respondents indicated that modifying these factors limit their abilities to effectively set
industrial processes designed around fossil fuel- renewable heating and cooling targets and make
based energy sources was one of the main barriers progress towards decarbonising their operations.
to scaling up renewable heating and cooling.
Historical investments in industrial processes Companies’ survey responses also highlighted
create a fossil fuel lock-in effect, making the the importance of effective policies. Policy
transition away from fossil fuels and investing in uncertainty and complexity coupled with a lack
new enabling infrastructure for renewable heating of government support measures have made it
and cooling more challenging. Furthermore, the difficult for companies to invest. Without clear,
cost competitiveness of conventional energy long-term renewable heating and cooling targets
solutions, coupled with the lack of access to from national governments backed by concrete
finance for renewable energy investment, increases energy transition roadmaps, companies are
the likelihood that companies need to make a not incentivised or able to construct long-term
choice between competing internal priorities for renewable energy and sustainability strategies
capital expenditure. (see Figure 6). In the industrial sector, incentive
schemes often also target heavy industry and fail
Given the context-specific nature of heating to address small and medium-sized enterprises.6
and cooling, renewable energy solutions often
have to be customised to meet the unique Delivering the energy transformation will require
needs of various industry subsectors. The lack fundamental shifts in companies’ investments,
of available technologies for renewable heating planning processes, attitudes and behaviours.
and cooling processes in industry is especially By overcoming structural and behavioural
relevant for industrial heat processes requiring barriers, companies can help unleash additional
high temperatures and new investments in renewable energy deployment and its associated
cost-intensive advanced technologies. Further, socioeconomic benefits such as gross domestic
sparse information and data on renewable product growth, job creation and welfare gains.
energy solutions for industrial processes make it This calls for closer collaboration between policy
challenging for companies to fully evaluate their makers and companies to align sustainability and
energy needs and invest in the appropriate heating climate objectives.
and cooling solutions. Companies indicated that
6 Small and medium-sized enterprises are non-subsidiary, independent firms which employ fewer than a given number of employees.
The upper-limit for employees in these enterprises varies across countries, but is often 250 employees.20 COMPAN IES IN T R A NSIT IO N TOWA R D S 100% RE N E WA BLE S :
KEY TAKEAWAYS AND
04 LESSONS LEARNED
Renewable energy investments in all sectors and commitments and implement strategies and
end-uses must grow significantly and jointly as an policy frameworks that effectively encourage and
integrated energy transformation to meet the Paris incentivise the use of renewable energy beyond
Agreement objectives. As companies around the the power sector and into the heating and cooling
world increasingly prioritise sustainability within sector.
their operations, many have set and even achieved
100% renewable electricity targets and are scaling Based on case studies as well as a survey of
up the share of renewable energy in their heating companies’ renewable energy use for heating and
and cooling operations. This growing momentum cooling operations, the following key findings may
within industry presents an important opportunity serve as guidance and inspiration for governments
for policy makers to affirm their renewable energy and companies.
Key takeaways for governments
Setting national and subnational targets for 100% governments can help companies make informed
renewable energy across all end-use sectors, decisions that are competitive and cost-effective
including heating and cooling, is key to driving in the long term.
the energy transformation in the industrial sector.
As a growing number of companies prioritise Long-term government planning is particularly
sustainability and strive to reduce greenhouse gas important for decarbonising heating and cooling
emissions, they look to national and subnational in industry. In addition to national target setting,
governments to provide clear policy signals integrated long-term planning is crucial when
through long-term renewable energy targets. it comes to heating and cooling. Companies
However, as of today, less than a third of national seeking to decarbonise their heating and cooling
governments have adopted renewable energy operations are faced with complex decisions given
targets for heating and cooling in comparison the context-specific and infrastructure-dependent
to 166 countries that have targets for renewable nature of heating and cooling solutions. Whether
electricity. This trend can also be observed in a company chooses to electrify a portion of its
corporate target setting, with companies setting heating operations, switch fuels or rely on direct
renewables targets for electricity to a larger extent thermal heat depends heavily on national and
than for heating and cooling. Companies tend local government plans. Such plans may include
to have broader targets (i.e., energy efficiency, developing or expanding central solutions – such
emissions, decarbonisation) that only indirectly as district heating networks or gas grids utilising
impact the uptake of renewables for heating renewable gases – as well as resource availability
and cooling. Policy and regulatory clarity by and costs. For example, access to cost-competitiveF O C US O N H E ATI N G A N D C O O LI NG 21
renewable electricity can be a strong driver for heating and cooling projects remains difficult in
electrifying processes, whereas the availability many parts of the world due to limited access to
of sustainable biomass can be a incentive for capital, elevated by underlying market barriers and
switching fuel from coal, oil or natural (fossil) gas real or perceived risk. This is particularly relevant
to biogas or biomass combustion. in developing markets. Through the strategic use
of public funds such as incentive programmes,
Implementing ambitious regulatory, fiscal and governments can help mobilise private capital and
financial policies and incentives will help increase reduce investment risks by sending clear signals
the share of renewables in heating and cooling. to the financial sector that they support the shift
Regulatory policies – including renewable heat away from fossil fuel-dependent processes, as well
obligations, feed-in tariffs, and bans on the use as providing de-risking loan guarantees and grants
of fossil fuels/price on carbon and other negative and risk insurance funds. Regulatory environments
externalities of conventional energy production – that encourage green lending practices – both
can help further stimulate renewables uptake for public and private – can further lower financing
heating and cooling. Given the high upfront capital costs for renewable heating and cooling.
costs of renewable heating and cooling solutions,
appropriate policy frameworks fostering research, Exploring innovative sourcing models for
development, quality standards, certifications and renewable heating and cooling will further scale
deployment programmes (private and public- up progress. New and innovative sourcing models
private partnerships) are needed to lower their cost (i.e., corporate PPAs and utility green procurement
and to increase acceptance of new technologies. programmes) have been put forward in the
Long-term fiscal and financial support programmes market for renewable electricity, underpinned by
also remain key to accelerating the transition to the availability and effective tracking of energy
renewables. Companies that have successfully attribute certificates. Lessons learned from the
installed decentralised heating and cooling development of renewable electricity sourcing
technologies such as solar thermal or heat pumps models can be leveraged to develop sourcing
have typically received some sort of financial or models for other end-uses. In addition to creating
fiscal support in the form of a subsidy, grant or tax a recognised accounting framework for renewable
credit. heating and cooling certificates that will help
create transparency and efficiently track attributes,
Improving access to private capital for energy governments should explore new mechanisms that
transition-related technologies will encourage facilitate easy access to renewable heating and
essential long-term investments. Although falling cooling sources, such as green utility programmes.
renewable energy costs have significantly lowered
up-front capital costs, financing renewable energy
Key takeaways for companies
Switching to renewable energy heating and Setting long-term corporate renewable
cooling brings important benefits beyond emission heating and cooling targets and implementation
reduction. In the transition to a climate-safe future, strategies accelerates the decarbonisation of
decarbonising heating and cooling operations operations. Committing to a renewable energy
plays a major role. Alongside significant emission target is an important tool to measure company
performance and progress. Setting a target also
reductions, shifting companies’ energy supply
communicates a clear signal to shareholders,
towards renewables provides a competitive edge
investors and customers of a company’s dedication
by reducing their risk exposure to volatile fossil
and ambition towards sustainability and the energy
fuel supply and costs. The importance of corporate transformation. Any target should be supported
social responsibility and reduced reputational risks by a strategy outlining how the company will meet
is also becoming more prominent as shareholders its energy demand through renewables, including
and clients increasingly demand sustainability as a milestones towards the target, sourcing models
core practice. and planned projects.You can also read
