Support programme for sustainable heat in industry

Project type: Energy Efficiency

Project location: Switzerland

Project status: In operation, exclusive

Annual CO₂ reduction: 5’000 t CO2

Following initial efforts in transport and building stock, attention is now turning to decarbonisation of the energy-intensive industrial sector. This climate protection programme promotes the replacement of fossil heating in industrial production with high-temperature heat pumps, which are little used at present. Shifting industrial operations to renewable heat could avoid large volumes of heating-related carbon emissions. Industrial operations in Switzerland that register for the support programme by the end of 2025 and are aiming to implement a refurbishment project by 2030 can benefit from this support.

Industrial operations have unusually high demands for constant operation of the machines used in production. On top of that, industrial processes often run at high temperatures of over 100 °C. Until recently, only large fossil boilers (natural gas, heating oil) could meet these demands. But there have been great strides in the development of larger, more efficient heat pumps for the industrial sector in recent years. As such, the replacement of fossil heating is becoming increasingly important in the industrial sector. This climate protection programme supports the replacement of climate-damaging boilers with specialist heat pumps (> 50kW_th), along with installation thanks to comprehensive quality assurance. Industrial production usually requires particularly high thermal output and temperature levels. This results in a high potential for losses from insufficiently insulated heat pumps. The programme aims to lower the threshold of high investment costs for large heat pumps through financial support for industrial operations. Removing fossil energy sources will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the heating needs of Swiss industry. The climate protection programme is run by myclimate in cooperation with technical consultants, with implementation made possible through support funding from the KliK Foundation.

Where does the support funding come from?

This climate protection programme is made possible by support funding from the KliK Foundation. Go to our information page to find out how the funding mechanism works.

Consultancy and funding

Technical consultants support the industrial company in developing a concept study and in registering the resulting programme. The replacement heating project would be uneconomical without proceeds from the sale of carbon emission reduction certificates. This must be reviewed individually in every case for projects with thermal output below 150kW_th under a concept study carried out by the technical consultants. For all other projects, blanket additionality applies. Once the new heating system is commissioned, the annual carbon savings attested by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) can be sold at a value of CHF 160 per tonne of CO₂.

Register now!

Submit the registration form to myclimate before signing the service or sale contract for the heat pump. You can find the detailed acceptance criteria in the registration form. The usual registration process for the support programme includes the following steps:

Request and commission a consultant to carry out a concept study (see contacts below).
Programme registration: fill out the registration form, sign it and submit it to myclimate together with the required attachments.
Once you receive provisional approval for support, begin the detailed execution plan and sign the support contract between the building contractor and myclimate.
Sign the service or sale contract for the relevant investment and forward a copy to myclimate.
Once the system is commissioned, send copies of the commissioning report for the heat generator and the calibrated energy meter to myclimate.
Once a year, submit the monitoring data stipulated in the support contract and receive support funding.

Notes on sustainability

The item below is not an acceptance criterion for this support programme, yet we strongly recommend that you take it into account nonetheless:

Natural refrigerants: a new, ground-breaking trend, natural refrigerants have little or no greenhouse gas potential in the event of leakage. They include carbon dioxide (R744, CO₂), hydrocarbons (propane R290, isobutane R600a) and ammonia (R717, NH3). You can find a list of efficient heat pumps and their refrigerants at topten.ch. It often takes an explicit query to the company to find out whether the device or installation is offered with a natural refrigerant.

Technical consultation/quality assurance

Foundation myclimate places great importance on high quality support, so a concept study by experienced technical consultants is a prerequisite of acceptance. However, myclimate does not itself have the expertise to carry out quality assurance. Becoming a technical consultant for this programme requires prior notification of Foundation myclimate (contact details below). Programme registration and concept studies for this support programme can only be issued if the consultation criteria are met.

CONSULTATION CRITERIA