Kleintettau/Piesau. On 26 August 2024, Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Dr Robert Habeck visited the headquarters of the HEINZ-GLAS Group in Kleintettau. The reason for the visit was to hand over a funding notification for the projects 67DDI041-3 ‘Glass4FutureInvest’ and 67DDI041-2 ‘Glass4FutureEE’ to SP Spezialglas P iesau GmbH in the amount of 14.6 million euros (‘Glass4FutureInvest’) and 375,000 euros (‘Glass4FutureEE’), which are allocated to the federal funding programme ‘Decarbonisation of Industry’.
In order to produce glass with low CO2 emissions in the future, Spezialglas Piesau GmbH is investing in an innovative glass melting furnace at its Thuringian site. The HEINZ-GLAS Group subsidiary also plans to replace downstream components with climate-friendly alternatives. The all-electric heated system should be able to produce 90 tonnes of glass per day in the future. The transformation will lead to an annual reduction of up to 6,250 tonnes of CO2.
The challenge: high CO2 emissions in glass production
The glass industry is one of the most energy-intensive industrial sectors in Germany. In glass production, the melting process accounts for the largest share of energy consumption. In refractory melting tanks, glass raw materials and cullet are melted together at temperatures of up to 1,700 degrees Celsius.
The use of all-electric melting furnaces makes it possible to avoid fossil energy sources when using green electricity. However, these furnaces still have technical limitations: for example, the daily melting capacity is not very flexible and the use of recycled glass cullet is limited. To optimise the use of climate-friendly glass melting furnaces, HEINZ-GLAS is building a flexible furnace for the first time at the Piesau site for the all-electric melting process. In addition, one of the feeder channels will be electrified by feeding the liquid glass into the processing machines for shaping.
The innovation: flexible melting furnace is better adapted
In order to overcome the previously known technical limitations, HEINZ-GLAS has been researching a flexible all-electric melting furnace. The results obtained are being incorporated into the investment project, which, in addition to the construction of the new production building, also includes the conversion of existing facilities at the site in Piesau, Thuringia. The investment is being supported with around 14.6 million euros from the ‘Decarbonisation in Industry’ funding programme. The innovative furnace technology should be better able to respond to required production capacities. The use of recycled glass cullet should be variable, depending on the glass colour to be produced.
‘We are investing a total of around 50-60 million euros to convert our oldest site, founded in 1622, from a gas-fired furnace to two electric furnaces. This will create the most modern and environmentally friendly glassworks in the world. The federal funding is an important part of realising our project plans and driving the transformation forward at full speed. This major step in the targeted CO2 reduction in our group of companies is only possible if we can rely on affordable, green energy that is available 24/7. I am proud of this project, which combines our roots with a sustainable future,’ explains Carletta Heinz, CEO and owner of the HEINZ-GLAS Group.
Outlook: Potential for decarbonisation in the industry
In order to further optimise the furnace and the all-electric feeder channel, HEINZ-GLAS is following up the investment with a development project. The ‘Glass4FutureEE’ project, which is also being funded, aims to further improve flexibility and service life. The melting furnace and the all-electric feeder channel are continuously analysed and evaluated according to scientific criteria as part of experimental development during operation in order to derive parameters for flexible VES furnaces on an industrial scale.
The successful completion of the project enables the use of all-electric melting furnaces in the entire glass industry and can contribute to the decarbonisation of the industry.
