LEONHARD KURZ and ENERGYNEST Successfully Commission Power-to-Heat Plant with Heat Storage

Sulzbach-Rosenberg/Germany, September 2, 2026: LEONHARD KURZ and ENERGYNEST have successfully commissioned their joint power-to-heat plant with integrated thermal storage at the Sulzbach-Rosenberg site. Now that all installation and commissioning work has been completed, the system is supplying industrial process heat based on renewable electricity, marking an important milestone on the path to decarbonizing energy-intensive production processes.

The plant combines a 3 MW electric heater with an ENERGYNEST ThermalBattery^TM featuring a storage capacity of 12 MWhth. The system is directly integrated into the site’s existing thermal oil infrastructure and primarily uses electricity from the directly connected ground-mounted photovoltaic system to provide high-temperature process heat on demand.

Once operational, KURZ will generate more than 3 GWhth of clean heat annually, covering over 70 percent of the heat demand for a production line at the site. More than 40 percent of the heat demand will be met by stored heat. At the same time, natural gas consumption will be reduced by more than 3.5 GWh per year, resulting in annual CO₂ savings of over 700 metric tons.

With this project, KURZ is advancing its sustainability strategy and consistently pursuing the goal of climate-neutral production. The company already exclusively uses electricity from renewable energy sources at its German sites. The successful commissioning of the power-to-heat plant now marks another important step toward the decarbonization of industrial heat supply.

“Sustainability is deeply embedded in our corporate DNA and shapes every aspect of our business operations and innovation. With the successful commissioning of this plant, we are taking another important step on our path toward climate-neutral production. The project demonstrates how innovative energy solutions and industrial competitiveness can go hand in hand,” said Ralph Hopfensitz, Executive Senior Vice President of Global Technology at LEONHARD KURZ.

Alex Robertson, CEO of ENERGYNEST, added: “With this successful commissioning, we are proving that the decarbonization of industrial process heat is no longer a concept for the future, but can be implemented economically today. Together with KURZ, we have implemented a solution that enables the flexible use of renewable electricity and replaces fossil fuels. This project demonstrates how the industrial energy transition can succeed in practice - with immediately measurable results in terms of emissions reduction, energy efficiency, and security of supply.”

The solution is one of the first industrial power-to-heat projects in Germany to combine high-temperature heat with integrated thermal energy storage. It demonstrates how companies can flexibly utilize renewable electricity, increase energy efficiency, and economically replace fossil-fuel-based process heat.

The project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and serves as a model for scaling up electrified heat supply in industry. Its successful implementation underscores the potential of power-to-heat and heat storage as key building blocks of a climate-neutral industry.