23 Feb. 2026: The customer needed fully decarbonized steam during production, so Turboden developed a customized steam electrification solution that generates steam from CO2-free electricity.

Turboden, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, successfully started the world’s largest steam-producing heat pump at delfort’s specialty paper mill. The system is now fully operational and overperforming with a coefficient of performance 10% higher than the expected value, marking a step forward in the decarbonization of energy-intensive industrial processes and industrial steam generation.

“This project marks a significant milestone in delfort’s decarbonization journey,” said Hannes Kinast, COO of delfort.“The successful implementation of this efficient and sustainable heat-pump process into our heat generation system clearly proves the potential of this technology. We are proud to be a front runner in our industry. This investment reinforces our ability to deliver high-quality, sustainably produced paper solutions to our customers.”

The project features a large-scale heat pump with mechanical vapor recompression capable of generating 12 MWth of superheated steam at 3.4 bar, raising the temperature up to 150 – 180 °C. It recovers low-grade waste heat from delfort’s industrial processes and upgrades the heat using CO2-free electricity. As the largest steam-producing heat pump ever built, the system demonstrates the potential for CO2-free heat technologies to replace fossil fuel-based boilers in industrial applications needing steam beyond 150 °C.

A key project challenge was installing the heat pump inside an existing room with limited footprint available: Turboden designed the plant to ensure optimal accessibility, maintainability, and performance. The resulting design was a robust, efficient, and future-proof system that avoids approximately 19,000 tons of Scope 1 CO2 emissions per year.

“This achievement reflects Turboden’s commitment to delivering concrete results through technically robust and forward-looking solutions,” said Nicola Rossetti, General Manager of Heat Electrification, Turboden.“The successful start-up of the world’s largest steam-producing heat pump marks an important step in the electrification of industrial heat at scale. It further consolidates Turboden’s expertise in high-temperature large heat pumps and reinforces our role as a long-term technology partner, supporting customers in the transition towards efficient and sustainable electrified heat solutions.”

The customer needed a solution to supply its production process with fully decarbonized steam while guaranteeing the same quality, reliability, and continuity provided by fossil fuel boilers. Turboden addressed the requirement by developing a customized steam electrification solution that generates steam from CO2-free electricity while valorizing low-temperature waste heat from the paper manufacturing process.

Turboden and delfort executed a close and collaborative engineering effort that resulted in a tailor-made plant design fully integrated in the paper mill. Additionally, Turboden managed the interaction between the heat pump and mechanical vapor recompression across all operating phases, applying advanced process knowledge and high-quality system integration capabilities.

Geothermal Equipment
In October 2025, Turboden America obtained a Phase II award for Fervo Energy’s Cape Station geothermal project in Utah. Turboden will deliver equipment for three 60-MWe Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) units, totaling 180 MW of clean dispatchable power. With an additional three Gen-2 units, Turboden’s technology will generate 300 MWe of power at the Cape Station site, forming one of the largest geothermal installations globally.

Cape Station’s Phase II engineering and procurement scope includes Turboden’s turbines and control system, which are scheduled for delivery and commission by 2028. Also, this award follows the company’s ORC delivery for Cape Station Phase I—soon to be commissioned in 2026. These units represent the second generation of Fervo’s modular power plant design, marking a significant milestone in the large-scale implementation of enhanced geothermal systems.

By James Cook, Turboden