Brewing with Clean Heat
A Carbon-Neutral Heat Supply for Breweries
Breweries are substantial energy users in the food industry. A significant share of this energy – approximately 60 to 75% – is used for process heat, which is still primarily generated from fossil fuels.1
As the industry shifts towards sustainability, electrification combined with thermal energy storage presents a compelling pathway to decarbonization. This approach not only reduces emissions but also improves cost-efficiency and energy resilience.
Energy Demand in the Brewing Sector
Depending on the plant’s efficiency, the average energy demand across the brewing process is about 40 kWh per hectoliter. This means that major global producers can easily consume terawatt-hours of energy annually
To illustrate:
- The Netherlands produces about 25 million hectoliters per year.
- Heineken, with global production exceeding the U.S., likely has an annual energy demand of roughly 9,700 GWh, possibly lower due to advanced efficiency measures.
- Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, produced over 500 million hectoliters in 2023, with a potential demand of up to 19 TWh per year.
Heat-intensive steps in brewing
The brewing of beer is a lengthy process that involves sourcing malt and hops, drying and milling the ingredients, mashing, lautering, boiling, and fermentation and maturation steps, as well as sophisticated filtration and bottling processes.
Some of these steps are performed at ambient or cooling temperatures. The heat-intensive processes include
- Malt drying (kilning): ~50–75 °C
- Mashing: 40–78 °C
- Lautering: 76–78 °C
- Wort boiling: ~100 °C
- Pasteurization: 60-72°C before bottling
- Sterilization of bottles: 60-135°C
These steps represent the bulk of thermal energy consumption in a brewery. The energy share varies a lot depending on the process with Wort boiling being the most intensive.
Steam: the backbone of heat transfer
Most breweries rely on centralized steam networks operating at 8–14 bar and 175–195 °C78. Steam is efficient, easy to regulate, and ideal for multi-process heating.6 However, current industrial heat pumps cannot achieve these temperatures effectively.
Therefore, the transition must focus not on replacing individual heating systems, but on supplying green steam to the existing infrastructure. This can be supplied by direct electric steam boilers which are efficient and a good solution. However, given the renewable energy market, flexibility is key to lowering electricity prices, thus thermal energy storage is required for the best OPEX solution.
The Role of Kraftblock: Decarbonizing Process Heat
Electricity prices go down when renewables generate a lot of electricity, such as at noon from PV or at night from wind. To use this for the whole day, this cheap energy can be transported with a thermal energy storage like Kraftblock. In combination with a steam generator, this infrastructure can be used to produce steam from renewable sources at significantly lower electricity costs.
This approach allows breweries to:
- Cut CO₂ emissions,
- Lower operational costs (OPEX),
- Use electricity when it’s cheapest,
- Future-proof their energy systems without overhauling existing steam infrastructure.
Use Case: PepsiCo & Eneco in the Netherlands
A comparable setup is already being implemented in the Netherlands:
In the "Volt" project under the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme, PepsiCo and Eneco are deploying Kraftblock’s thermal energy storage system to replace a fossil-fuel gas boiler previously used to heat thermal oil for frying potato chips.By flexibly sourcing electricity and storing it as high-density heat, the project enables cost-efficient, fossil-free production, showcasing a scalable solution that is directly transferable to heat-intensive industries like brewing.
Find out more about the project here.
This project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the German Energy Solutions Initiative.
Sources:
1) Bär, Raik & Voigt, Tobias. (2019). Analysis and Prediction Methods for Energy Efficiency and Media Demand in the Beverage Industry. Food Engineering Reviews. DOI:10.1007/s12393-019-09195-y
2) Worrel, Ernst; Galitsky, Christina & Martin, Nathan (2002): Energy Efficiency Opportunities in the Brewery Industry. Online: https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/881595
3) Steam Industry EU: Bottling lines: How to clean and disinfect glass bottles? Online: https://www.stindustry.eu/en/how-to-clean-and-disinfect-glass-bottles/#:~:text=Deep%20cleaning%20and%20sanitising%20action,line%20and%20even%20glass%20bottles
4) americancraftbeer.com: World’s biggest beer producer in 2024. Online: https://www.americancraftbeer.com/worlds-biggest-beer-producers-in-2024/
5) Anton Paar: Beer brewing process. Online: https://wiki.anton-paar.com/en/beer-brewing-process/
6) Brücklmeier, Jan (2022): Energieeinsatz in der Brauerei. Braumagazin, online: https://braumagazin.de/article/energieeinsatz-in-der-brauerei
7) Hagelschuer (2024): Hagelschuer lieferte Dampfkesselanlage an die Schumacher Brauerei in Düsseldorf. Online: https://www.dampfkessel.com/projekt-des-monats-november-2024/
8) Göbelbäcker, Jona (2020): Installation einer Biomasse-Dampfkesselanlage für die Brauerei Carlsberg. Online: https://www.pharma-food.de/utilities-services/installation-einer-biomasse-dampfkesselanlage-fuer-die-brauerei-carlsberg.html