中文KURZ and ENERGYNEST have formally inaugurated a power-to-heat installation at KURZ’s Sulzbach-Rosenberg site, marking the transition from project development to full industrial operation. The system combines a 3 MW electric heater with six ENERGYNEST ThermalBattery modules providing 12 MWh of storage, allowing heat to be generated when renewable electricity is available and used later as production requires. It is a concrete example of how a heritage printing and finishing supplier is reengineering its energy backbone for a decarbonizing economy.
The installation is expected to deliver more than 3.5 GWh of process heat annually and reduce natural gas consumption in the supplied production area by around 70 percent. A directly connected ground-mounted photovoltaic system supplies renewable power, closing the loop between generation and industrial demand. By decoupling the timing of electricity use from heat demand through thermal storage, the project demonstrates that process heat can be electrified without sacrificing production reliability, a concern that has slowed many electrification efforts in energy-intensive manufacturing.
Dr. Andreas Hirschfelder, CEO of KURZ, framed the logic succinctly: future-ready production also requires a future-ready energy supply. The project is positioned as a practical example of how industrial process heat can be electrified, with thermal storage separating the moment of electricity consumption from the moment heat is needed on the line. Funded in part by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, the project has also been nominated for the dena Energy Award 2026 in the category Move forward, recognizing integrated strategies for climate neutrality.
For KURZ, a global specialist in decorative surface finishing and transfer technologies used across packaging, automotive, electronics and consumer goods, the investment is more than a sustainability line item. Reliable, lower-carbon process heat protects the company against volatile natural gas prices and tightening emissions regulation, while reinforcing its own customer pitch: brands increasingly want suppliers whose production footprint aligns with their net-zero commitments. A demonstrable 70 percent gas reduction at a core site is exactly the kind of evidence major customers now request in supplier audits.
The collaboration also illustrates a growing model in industrial decarbonization: pairing a manufacturer’s process knowledge with a storage-technology partner’s hardware. ENERGYNEST’s ThermalBattery stores energy as heat in a proprietary material, releasing it on demand without the round-trip losses of converting electricity to hydrogen or batteries and back. For sites with steady, large heat demand like coating and finishing lines, that approach can be both cheaper and simpler than alternatives, avoiding complex chemical cycles.
Beyond the immediate emissions savings, the Sulzbach-Rosenberg system serves as a reference installation KURZ can showcase to other sites and to customers navigating their own energy transitions. As European industry faces both competitive pressure from lower-cost regions and binding climate targets, projects that cut cost and carbon at once are likely to multiply. The KURZ-ENERGYNEST inauguration is a signal that industrial power-to-heat has moved from pilot rhetoric to operational reality on the factory floor.
Source: INKISH.NEWS (15 October 2026) – KURZ and ENERGYNEST Inaugurate Industrial Power-to-Heat System.
The KURZ-ENERGYNEST project is notable for its funding structure as well as its engineering. Support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and a nomination for the dena Energy Award 2026, place the installation within a national industrial-decarbonization agenda rather than as a private experiment. That backing matters because electrified process heat often requires capital and certainty that individual firms hesitate to risk alone; public co-funding de-risks the blueprint for others.
Thermal storage is the quiet hero of the design. By charging when renewable electricity is abundant and discharging when the production line demands heat, the system smooths the intermittency that makes direct electrification daunting. ENERGYNEST’s ThermalBattery stores energy as heat in a proprietary medium, avoiding the efficiency losses and infrastructure complexity of converting electricity into hydrogen or batteries and back. For a coating and finishing site with steady, high-grade heat demand, that simplicity is a competitive advantage over more fashionable but less mature options.
The 70 percent reduction in natural gas at the supplied area is the headline, but the strategic value runs deeper. As carbon pricing and energy volatility persist, a manufacturer with a proven electrified heat source protects both cost structure and customer relationships, since major brands now audit supplier emissions. KURZ can point to Sulzbach-Rosenberg as a living reference for other sites and for customers navigating their own transitions. In an European industrial landscape caught between cost pressure and climate targets, projects that cut both carbon and exposure at once are likely to become the template rather than the exception.
The project’s nomination for the dena Energy Award 2026 underscores its role as a reference for industrial policy. Germany has pledged to decarbonize heavy industry while preserving competitiveness, and power-to-heat with thermal storage is a rare intervention that cuts emissions without relocating production. If the Sulzbach-Rosenberg model is replicated across KURZ’s other sites and adopted by peer manufacturers, the cumulative gas savings and emissions reductions could be substantial, making it a template for energy-intensive finishing operations.
For ENERGYNEST, the inauguration is a proof point that its storage technology performs in a real production environment rather than a lab. Industrial customers are rightly skeptical of unproven energy schemes, so a live, operating installation with published performance figures, 3.5 GWh annual heat and 70 percent gas reduction, is the strongest possible sales asset. As energy-intensive manufacturers across Europe scout credible paths to lower-carbon heat, partnerships pairing process knowledge with thermal storage are likely to multiply, and KURZ’s early move positions it as a leader rather than a follower in that transition.
