European pet food producer to use steam power at Hungarian facility

Partner in Pet Food Hungaria (PPF), a European private label pet food producer, has entered into a 12-year Heat as a Service (HaaS) agreement with Brenmiller Energy. Under the agreement, Brenmiller will deliver low-cost and low-carbon steam to PPF and offer grid-balancing services to the local transmission system operator (TSO) Mavir. PPF expects project costs to total around US$5 million.

PPF produces more than 700,000 tons of pet food per year, which is distributed from its 12 production facilities to over 400 retailers across 35-plus European countries. Brenmiller’s arrangement with PPF will help the company achieve its emissions reduction targets of 42% by the end of 2030.

Brenmiller will design, build, own and operate a 30 MWh bGen ZERO system next to PPF’s pet food manufacturing plant in Dombovar, Hungary. The bGen ZERO will take priority over PPF’s existing fossil fuel boilers, significantly reducing the pet food manufacturer’s energy costs and carbon footprint. PPF will purchase steam from Brenmiller at a fixed rate.

According to Brenmiller, the economics of this project are made possible by increasingly favorable regulatory and energy market conditions across Europe. In Hungary, TSO Mavir recently made heat battery asset owners eligible for compensation through a new capacity market program designed to incentivize flexibility. Brenmiller can also leverage the bGen to participate in Mavir’s grid-balancing market and increase project revenues.

“Our company is committed to sustainability, and Brenmiller’s turnkey bGen technology is an ideal way for us to prepare our manufacturing operations for the future," said Gerald Kuehr, CEO of PPF. "As a European leading company in private-label pet food, producing over 700,000 tons of pet food annually, we have an obligation to lead by example and drive the sustainability agenda in our industry forward. We are pleased to work with Brenmiller to achieve our greenhouse gases reduction goals."

Pet food industry well suited for thermal energy storage

According to the Renewable Thermal Collaborative, 97% of process heat in food and beverage processing is below 130°C. Brenmiller said it believes the industry is well suited to adopt thermal energy storage for power-to-heat applications. The food and beverage sector is where the company is seeing the greatest demand for its product and services, which reach temperatures of up to 650°C.

"Our Heat as a Service solution is a win-win for Partner in Pet Food," said Brenmiller’s chairman and CEO Avi Brenmiller. "By providing access to heat, while maintaining our ownership of the system, we’re helping our customer achieve both its sustainability and profitability goals and will be able to deliver critical flexibility to Hungary’s electricity grid to support the deployment of more renewables.

"This dual ability is crucial to unlocking the business case for thermal energy storage in industrial applications," continued Brenmiller. "We are excited about our long-term agreement with Partner in Pet Food and pleased to be establishing a footing in Hungary’s fast-growing energy storage market."

According to Petfood Industry's Top Pet Food Companies, Partner in Pet Food, based in Hungary, is a European pet food producer supplying retailers, discounters, specialty pet retailers and online specialists in 35-plus countries. The company makes a full value range of dry, wet and semi-moist cat and dog food, alucups, pouches and snacks from nine production facilities spanning four countries: the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, with an additional sales office in Poland. It produces nearly 700,000 tons of pet food yearly.