Armstrong begins work on industrial heat pump plant
15th June 2025
BELGIUM: Armstrong International has commenced work on a new high temperature industrial heat pump production facility at its site in Herstal, Belgium.
The expansion project follows Armstrong’s acquisition of a neighbouring industrial building – spanning 5,000m2 on a 25,000m2 plot – which creates the potential to double future production capacity.
The project includes a comprehensive infrastructure upgrade over two years, focusing on building a new modular facility capable of producing up to 50MW of industrial high-temperature heat pumps. The new facility is expected to be operational by early 2027.
The result of Armstrong’s joint venture partnership with German manufacturer Combitherm, Armstrong’s Circular Thermal heat pumps are said to be capable of generating superheated water or low-pressure steam up to 120°C. The project’s heat pumps will also reuse the process waste heat, thus reducing the primary energy need by up to 70%.
The project is supported by a €4.7m grant from the Innovation Fund of the European Commission and CINEA – European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.
“This expansion is a critical step in delivering sustainable, energy-efficient solutions for industrial applications across Europe,” Armstrong EMEA MD Rossen Ivanov commented when the project was first announced last year. “It will help meet the growing demand in Europe for decarbonising industrial heat below 200ºC by recovering waste heat from processes and cooling systems – reducing up to 70% of the primary energy demand at industrial sites in sectors like food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and other light industries.
Armstrong International CEO Kurt Armstrong added: “This expansion is also part of Armstrong’s broader programme to increase production of industrial high-temperature heat pumps across the world. The Herstal facility complements our expanding manufacturing capabilities in the United States and India as well as existing operations in China and Mexico.”
