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Yes. A 650 kW air-sourced heat pump installed at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado, supplied steam to the brewery’s existing steam header. The demonstration report says the system was operational after its May 2025 installation and that the brewery did not shut down for the work. AtmosZero described the installation as the first delivery to a paying customer, but the available project reports do not independently establish a worldwide-first comparison.
What the Fort Collins system does
This is industrial process equipment, not a residential heat pump. Its 650 kW thermal capacity is intended to supply part of a brewery’s steam demand. The system draws heat from ambient air and uses a cascaded heat-pump cycle; AtmosZero describes the cycle as using oil-free centrifugal compressors. The demonstration report also describes a mechanical vapor recompression stage that raises the steam’s temperature and pressure.
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According to the IEA Heat Pumping Technologies demonstration case, the compressor raised steam from 150°C at 3.8 barg to 165°C at 6.0 barg, delivering steam to the brewery header. AtmosZero’s 2026 case study describes output up to 150°C in its case-study configuration. Those figures refer to different descriptions and should not be treated as a single test point. IEA Heat Pumping Technologies demonstration case; AtmosZero case study.
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The demonstration report says installation required electrical, feedwater, and steam connections. Because the system is air-sourced, the reported installation did not require integration into brewery processes, and the facility remained operational during the work. That is a description of this project, not a guarantee that another plant could install similar equipment without an outage.
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Connecting to the existing steam header matters: the heat pump supplies a familiar utility rather than requiring brewing recipes or process equipment to be redesigned. Andy Collins, Carbon Neutral Engineer at New Belgium Brewing, told the IEA report that using steam let the brewery rely on infrastructure already in place and avoid changing brewing recipes. IEA Heat Pumping Technologies demonstration case.
How much of the brewery’s steam it supplies
A Colorado State University System article published in 2026 says the installation can cover 30 percent of the Fort Collins brewery’s steam needs, attributing the figure to a spokesperson. It is a reported share, not a separately audited annual average. The same article identifies the system’s capacity as 650 kW thermal. Colorado State University System.
What “first” means here
An October 11, 2026 news article described the project as a first delivery to a paying customer. AtmosZero also characterized it as a first, while the IEA demonstration case documents the New Belgium installation and its reported operation. These sources establish the Fort Collins project, but they do not independently verify that no earlier industrial heat pump anywhere supplied steam to a paying customer. The careful formulation is that AtmosZero described the installation as the first of its kind to reach a paying customer. October 11, 2026 news article; AtmosZero case study; IEA demonstration case.
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The Fort Collins installation demonstrates reported operation, but it does not establish the cost or suitability of a similar project at another facility. A plant evaluating industrial heat-pump steam should examine:
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- Steam conditions: Match the required temperature and pressure, not just the facility’s total steam demand.
- Heat source: Determine whether ambient air or available waste heat can provide the input heat reliably across seasonal conditions.
- Electricity: Check electrical capacity and energy costs alongside the expected thermal output.
- Integration: Assess connection to existing steam headers and boiler controls, and whether process integration is needed.
- Installation: Establish outage requirements for the specific site; the no-downtime result reported at New Belgium should not be assumed elsewhere.
- Capacity: Compare system output with the actual steam load and decide what share of demand the equipment is intended to cover.
AtmosZero’s 2026 case study presents payback scenarios of 3.1 years using 90°C waste heat and 9.6 years using a 35°C waste-heat source. These are company-reported scenario results, not guaranteed or typical payback periods; they do not provide a site-specific economic model for another plant. AtmosZero case study.
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