AHEAD project wins DECA Award

The AHEAD project by Takeda, a globally operating pharmaceutical company, with SPH contributing as technology partner, has received the DECA Award. Each year, the DECA (Service Provider Energy Efficiency and Contracting Austria) is the association of Austrian energy service providers and recognizes projects that make a significant contribution to energy efficiency and decarbonization. The award highlights initiatives that are technologically pioneering, deliver substantial savings potential and can be widely applied across industry. At the heart of the system is the ThermBooster™, SPH’s high-temperature heat pump.

In the AHEAD project, conducted by Takeda together with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), the ThermBooster™ is used for steam generation. “We are very proud to be part of this groundbreaking initiative. The award demonstrates that our technology is on the right track for industrial decarbonization,” says SPH CEO Andreas Mück.

Project overview

At its Vienna site, Takeda had previously met its heat demand using natural gas. With the ThermBooster™, the plant now recovers waste heat from hot water and produces saturated steam at up to 11 bar (a) and 184 °C – typical temperature levels in pharmaceutical production. The system delivers around 1.7 MW of thermal output and approximately 2.5 tons of steam per hour, reducing CO₂ emissions by up to 1,600 tons annually. The ThermBooster™ operates with natural refrigerants such as butane and water, which have a very low global warming potential and are therefore especially future-proof.

Why this award matters

The award sends a strong signal to industry: climate-friendly process heat and steam are already economically viable today. With this momentum, we are accelerating the scaling of our technology. Our aim is to deploy it more widely in sectors such as paper, chemicals and food. The project demonstrates the impressive potential of high-temperature heat pumps for industrial decarbonization. We are committed to continuing this path – together with strong partners, we are shaping the transition to climate-neutral process heat.