Energy costs are soaring, carbon targets are tightening and consumers are watching more closely than ever, but Ralf Härle, Senior Solution Manager B2B at E.ON Energy Infrastructure Solutions, argues that for breweries, dairies and soft drink producers, this is an opportunity to rethink how they use and manage energy.

Those who take a more holistic, flexible approach to energy – from heat pumps and hybrid systems to smarter process design – can cut emissions, control costs and navigate regulatory uncertainty without compromising quality or competitiveness, says Härle, who has extensive experience in industrial energy solutions.

Start with the energy audit

Traditionally, energy audits in beverage plants have focused on matching generation assets to existing demand. “The old model was simple,” Härle explains, “gather data on electricity, steam, hot and chilled water, then we simply tried to optimise the energy generation.”

For most food and beverage facilities, this meant a natural gas‑fired steam boiler operating at 8–10 bar as the universal workhorse. Steam was piped across the site, even where hot water at only 90°C was needed, with heat exchangers stepping the temperature down for cleaning or lower‑temperature processes. When gas was cheap, this single-medium approach made sense.

Today, though, Härle’s team starts in a very different place: the production process itself. Instead of accepting the stated energy demand as fixed, they question it.

He explains that in typical operations, only around 30–40% of heat demand genuinely needs steam – for example where very high temperatures are required to kill bacteria. The remaining 60–70% is lower-temperature demand that could be supplied more efficiently with hot water and heat pumps.

This shift of mindset turns the energy audit into a full process review:

  • Where is steam truly essential?
  • Where could hot water replace steam without compromising quality or hygiene?
  • What waste heat is already available from processes and chillers?
  • How can the production schedule itself be optimised to smooth demand?

Even simple operational changes can deliver immediate savings. One example Härle gives is staggering line start‑ups rather than starting every production line at the same time. This avoids sudden load peaks and can make a significant difference to grid requirements.

Which technologies give the best long-term value?

Once the true demand profile is understood, the focus shifts to technology selection. For Härle, the most promising solutions for beverage manufacturers share two features: they target low‑temperature loads and they enable flexibility.

Heat pumps are central to this. By using waste heat from processes or chillers, they can deliver hot water at 80–90°C with a coefficient of performance (COP) of 3.5–4 or more. As he notes, that means “one kilowatt of electric energy means four kilowatts of heat” – far more efficient than an electric boiler, which can only ever reach a COP of 1.

However, he is clear-eyed about limits. Producing high‑pressure steam with heat pumps is technically possible, but quickly becomes expensive, with extra compressors and high CAPEX and maintenance requirements. Biomass boilers, meanwhile, can work in some sectors, but the dust, space and logistics requirements make them less suitable for many food and beverage sites.

This is why E.ON has defined several ‘technical archetypes’ for industrial customers. At one end of the spectrum is full electrification – all heat from heat pumps, all cooling from electric chillers. Härle describes this as the most expensive route to net zero, suitable for a minority of customers who either must or choose to fully decarbonise on an aggressive timeline.

Far more common is a hybrid model combining existing gas‑fired boilers with new heat pump systems and, where appropriate, thermal storage.

In this hybrid configuration, manufacturers use cheap electricity periods to run heat pumps hard and charge large hot‑water stores, then rely on existing gas boilers for backup and peak capacity when power prices spike. As Härle explains, this is part of E.ON’s solution to make energy use more flexible. “We help the customer to operate this hybrid energy centre in the best possible way,” switching between electricity and gas as market conditions change.

Incentives, regulations and grid realities

No industrial decarbonisation story is complete without subsidies and regulation. For Härle, checking the regulatory landscape and available incentives is “one of the first things we do” when approaching a new project. In Germany, for example, eligibility for heat pump subsidies depends directly on achieving a minimum COP (for example, 2.5 or above). That immediately shapes which temperature levels and configurations make economic sense.

Grid capacity is another hard constraint. Many beverage plants already operate close to their available connection limit. If an electrified solution demands an extra one or two megawatts, network operators may simply respond with “come back in five or six years, once a new substation is built,” notes Härle.

This is where optimising production and demand becomes strategic, not just tactical. By improving equipment efficiency and smoothing loads, Härle’s team can often reduce a site’s existing electrical demand from, say, 5 MW to 3 MW – creating headroom for new heat pumps without a prohibitively expensive grid upgrade.

The role of biogas and biomass

While electrification grabs headlines, Härle sees a continuing role for renewable gases – particularly in sectors with organic waste streams. On large dairy farms, for example, waste can be converted into biogas and used to fire boilers, combined heat and power units or other thermal processes.

He notes that biogas can either be upgraded to natural gas quality and injected into the grid or used locally to “decarbonise your gas” and cut CO₂ emissions. In some regions, centralised biogas plants could aggregate manure or other feedstocks from multiple farms, turning biogas into a traded commodity in its own right.

Cultural and structural barriers

Beyond technology, Härle believes human and organisational barriers are changing now.  In breweries, for instance, brewmasters have often honed their craft over decades using steam. When switching to hot water heating, trust that product quality will not be compromised is therefore crucial, with any changes fully validated. Yet even in such sensitive processes like brewing beer, E.ON has seen more and more willingness to swap energy forms without losing quality.

Perhaps the largest obstacle, then, is regulatory uncertainty. Härle says that large energy projects often require investments of €10–20 million, a decision for the next 20 to 30 years. Yet in countries where political direction can swing every four years, it is hard for manufacturers to commit confidently to electrification or hybrids. Härle references the so‑called ‘grandfather clause,’ under which investments made under a particular law were historically protected from later changes in taxes or CO₂ pricing: “As governments adjust these protections, industrial clients understandably ask: if I choose this path today, will it still be the right one in five or ten years?”  Especially in times of transformation, it becomes increasingly important to have a long-term partnership with companies like E.ON, enabling companies to respond to the changes together.

Avoiding common mistakes

When manufacturers do act, the most common mistake Härle sees is a narrow focus on a single part of the system. “A plant manager might buy a ‘fantastic boiler’ seen at a trade fair, without consulting production teams or considering how the new asset fits into future strategies, regulations or flexibility needs,” he says. “[You should] never look at one part of the puzzle separately.”

Instead, technology, production processes, regulations, subsidies and market flexibility all need to be assessed together. E.ON’s role, says Härle, is to provide that holistic view – and then stay engaged over the long term through leasing and energy‑as‑a‑service contracts, rather than building a plant and walking away.

The next five years: transition and flexibility

Looking ahead, Härle sees the next five to ten years as a transitional period rather than a clean break. Decarbonisation at any cost is not realistic if it drives producers out of the market. Instead, he argues for “a healthy hybrid solution [that is] highly flexible” as the best fit for most manufacturers in the medium term. The task now, he believes, is to guide manufacturers towards systems that can absorb such shocks, switching intelligently between electricity, gas, renewables and storage while keeping both emissions and total energy costs under control.

For more information on the energy transition within F&B, please download the whitepaper below.