Solutions that Decarbonize District Heating
Copeland offers reliable, efficient industrial and commercial compression technologies and heat pump systems that enable the decarbonization of fossil-fuel-based district heating and energy systems worldwide.
Improve district heating sustainability with industrial heat pumps
Global sustainability initiatives and decarbonization policies are driving the electrification of district heating systems. Traditionally powered by fossil-fuel boilers, these systems are transitioning to clean, renewable energy sources, leveraging industrial heat pumps and complementary technologies to deliver centralized heating and cooling with ultra-low-global warming potential (GWP) and natural refrigerants such as CO₂ and ammonia.
Copeland partners with district heating stakeholders — manufacturers, utilities, municipalities, industrial contractors, energy policy advisors and urban energy specialists — to help decarbonize district heating networks deployed around the world.
Products engineered for district heating demands
Copeland's industrial products are engineered to meet the rigorous and wide-ranging demands of district heating applications, which often recover waste heat or thermal energy from available local sources. From our innovative industrial heat pumps and legendary single-screw compression platform to Copeland's reliable scroll compressors with enhanced vapor injection (EVI) technology, our district heating solutions are designed for long-term reliability and exceptional performance. We're helping global district heating networks achieve their uptime targets, lower operating expenses and cut carbon emissions with ultra-low GWP technologies that reduce energy consumption and optimize heat recovery.
Comprehensive support for district heating operations
From design and installation to operation and maintenance, Copeland's district heating system experts help scope application requirements and support every aspect of the system lifecycle.
Why choose Copeland?
With over a century of leadership in industrial cooling and heating innovations, Copeland is a trusted partner for district heating stakeholders seeking reliable, energy-efficient network heating and cooling technologies. From purpose-built compression technologies to modular heat pump solutions, Copeland and its Vilter brand are renowned for solving the most demanding industrial application challenges. Today, we're partnering with customers to decarbonize the next generation of district heating networks, enhancing reliability and scalability while enabling higher water temperatures.
What sets us apart:
- Improved energy efficiency across heating networks
- Maximized system uptime and performance
- Reduced carbon emissions and operational costs
- Reliable, scalable solutions for complex industrial systems
- Decades of trusted industrial heating and cooling experience
- Comprehensive service and support
Enabling the energy transition with district heating systems
Copeland partners with leading global district energy providers to create reliable, sustainable district heating networks using cutting-edge industrial heat pump technologies. These solutions leverage our industrial heat pumps and single-screw compression platforms and Copeland scroll compression to convert renewable resources and industrial processes to energy-efficient district heating and cooling.
Transforming wastewater into energy
Challenge: Markham District Energy (MDE) operates the world's largest wastewater energy transfer (WET) facility at its Low Carbon Energy Centre in downtown Markham, Ontario, Canada. The utility needed an industrial heat pump solution that could power its WET facility, extract heat from wastewater and convert it to energy for its district heating plant.
Solution: MDE selected Copeland's Vilter VQ95 single-screw ammonia industrial heat pump as the backbone of a revolutionary solution that leverages wastewater as a renewable energy source. The robust industrial heat pump converts waste heat at 5°C (41°F) into usable heat at 95 °C (203°F), allowing for sustainable water heating and simultaneous cooling.
From arctic seawater to reliable district heating
Challenge: Drammen, a community of 60,000 near the capital city of Oslo, Norway, needed 90°C (194°F) hot water for a new district heating system. With the frigid North Sea nearby as an energy source, Drammen city leaders sought a heat pump that delivered sufficient heating, high coefficient of performance (COP), minimal maintenance and a low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant.
Solution: To meet Drammen's heat pump requirements, Copeland leveraged the Vilter single-screw ammonia compressor. This first-of-its-kind solution required a compressor capable of withstanding the high pressures inherent in high-temperature heat pumps. The Vilter single screw met the challenge, delivering reliable performance with a high COP.
