Johnson Controls (JC) has completed the expansion of its Aarhus, Denmark, heat pump and chiller facility, which includes 2,300m2 (24,560ft2) of new production space and a 1,800m2 (19,375ft2) customer experience and test center.
The new facilities are set to strengthen the company’s ability to design, build and validate high-capacity heat pumps for district heating, public infrastructure and industrial applications, according to JC.
The Aarhus manufacturing facility is situated on 14 hectares (34.6 acres) and manufactures custom Sabroe heat pumps and chillers, including units using ammonia (R717), CO2 (R744) and propane (R290).
“By scaling production and real-world testing of large heat pumps, we are enabling municipalities and energy-intensive industries to electrify heat, lower costs and reduce emissions – with solutions designed, engineered, built and tested close to where they are deployed,” said Richard Lek, President EMEA at Johnson Controls, in a press release.
Doubling down on district heating: The expansion is set to double the plant’s production of high-capacity heat pumps for high-capacity industrial heat pumps.
- “With this expansion, Aarhus further cements its role as a center of excellence for district heating technology, delivering value to customers across Europe and the wider region,” stated Benthe Klokkerholm, VP of Manufacturing Operations HVAC&R EMEA.
- In April 2025 Finnish energy company Seinäjoen Voima said it would use ammonia Sabroe DualPac heat pumps to supply 4.9MW (1,393TR) of district heating to approximately 2,000 single-family homes in Seinäjoki, Finland, using heat from the local wastewater treatment plant. Each heat pump has a capacity of 1.6MW (455TR), Sami Hatakka, Head of Sales and Energy Solutions at Caverion Teollisuuskylmä, told NaturalRefrigerants.com.
- Earlier in 2025, Johnson Controls installed the “largest of its kind” heat pump in the Netherlands, a 27MW (7,677TR) system consisting of four ammonia-based HicaHP units. The system recovers residual waste heat from 65 million liters (17 million gallons) of treated wastewater daily at a wastewater treatment plant in Utrecht and provides heating to 20,000 homes in the local district heating network.
Economic impact: Heat production accounts for more than 60% of energy use in European industries, according to the European Heat Pump Association. Johnson Controls said its heat pump solutions helped customers reduce their energy costs by up to 32% and curb emissions by up to 55% in 2025.
- Danfoss is currently working with Fenagy and the Danish Technological Institute on a project to develop a hydrocarbon heat pump that can reach temperatures of up to 150°C (302°F).
- “If we can go all the way to 150°C, as much as a quarter of all industrial process heat needs can be covered by [natural refrigerant] heat pumps,” said Ivan Rangelov, Industrial Heat Pump Director at Danfoss.
Industrial heat pumps accelerating in Europe: The manufacturing facility expansion comes at a time when high-capacity heat pumps using natural refrigerants are starting to gain ground in Europe.
- In April 2026, Italian heat pump manufacturer Turboden started up what it described as “the world’s largest steam-producing heat pump,” using isobutane (R600a) refrigerant. The heat pump generates 12MWth of superheated steam at 3.4bar (49.3psi). Installed at a Delfort paper mill in Tervakoski, Finland, the system delivers steam at 150–180°C (302–356°F).
- In October 2025, Norwegian manufacturer Enerin announced it would supply a 1.2MW high-temperature heat pump that uses helium (R704) as a refrigerant to the pharmaceutical company Roche Switzerland to produce steam for the chemical production process at the facility.
- In September 2025, A high-temperature butane–water (R600–R718) heat pump from Sustainable Process Heating (SPH), a subsidiary of U.S. compressor manufacturer Copeland, was installed at a Takeda manufacturing facility in Vienna. The heat pump, which is used in the production of pharmaceutical products, has a capacity of 1.2MW (341TR) and can generate steam at up to 195°C (383°F).
Quotable: “This site has served as a foundation for heating and cooling innovation since Thomas Sabroe founded the business here in 1897,” said Klokkerholm.
