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Oct 23, 2024

Industrial Demonstrations Program Selections for Award Negotiations: Heat | Department of Energy

"> Back to main IDP Project Selections page > Location : Toledo, OH Federal Cost Share : Up to $45.1 million Recipient: Libbey Glass Project Summary The Flexible Fuel Electric Hybrid Glass Furnace

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Location: Toledo, OH

Federal Cost Share: Up to $45.1 million  

Recipient: Libbey Glass

Project Summary 

The Flexible Fuel Electric Hybrid Glass Furnace Demonstration project, led by Libbey Glass, plans to replace four regenerative furnaces with two larger hybrid electric furnaces to reduce the carbon intensity of its Toledo, OH facility by up to 50%. The hybrid furnaces combine the benefits of oxygen fuel with electric melting, replacing up to 80% of the melting energy with electricity. The electrification of this process is expected to significantly reduce criteria air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxide, and particulates, which would improve the air quality surrounding the facility. Because glass tableware such as drinking glasses have some of the highest glass product standards, this project could demonstrate the viability of electrification and alternative fuel use for the entire glass industry.  

This project anticipates generating approximately 268 construction jobs. Libbey plans to work with its unions, including the United Steelworkers and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and local education institutions to expand its apprenticeship programs for skilled trades, including electricians and master tradesmen, to increase employment and advancement opportunities in the local community. 

DOE's selection of an application for award negotiations is not a commitment by DOE to issue an award or provide funding. DOE and each selectee will negotiate a cooperative agreement, and any DOE funding would be provided only after negotiations are complete and DOE's Contracting Officer executes the funding agreement. Before a funding agreement is executed, DOE may cancel award negotiations and rescind the selection for any reason.

Location: Covington, Tennessee; Sikeston, Missouri; St. Albans, Vermont; and Waterbury, Vermont

Federal Cost Share: Up to $20.9 million

Selectee: Unilever

Project Summary

The Decarbonization of Unilever Ice Cream Manufacturing project, led by Unilever, plans to replace natural gas boilers with electric boilers and industrial heat pumps using waste heat recovery across four ice cream manufacturing facilities in Tennessee, Missouri, and Vermont. This project would reduce emissions associated with the production of Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Klondike, Magnum, Popsicle, Talenti, and other packaged ice cream and frozen novelty products. The facility upgrades expect to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 14,000 metric tons per year with a pathway to address 100% of heat-related process emissions. Along with reduced emissions, this project has an extremely high replicability potential and will create a model that could lead to further decarbonization throughout the food and beverage sector where approximately 50% of processing emissions are from low temperature heating.

This project plans to create approximately 240-300 construction jobs across the four sites and would help retain manufacturing jobs. The facility in each location uniquely serves the surrounding community. For example, the factory in Covington, Tennessee engages the Tipton County Manufacturing Council and Latinos Memphis to build prosperity in underserved communities; the Sikeston, Missouri facility partners with Southeast Missouri State College for internships; and the Ben & Jerry’s facilities in Vermont support a range of community development initiatives, including the Advancement Project and Milk with Dignity.

Location: Champaign, Illinois; Columbia, Missouri; Fremont, Ohio; Holland, Michigan; Kendallville, Indiana; Lowville, New York; New Ulm, Minnesota; Muscatine, Iowa; Mason City, Iowa; and Winchester, Virginia

Federal Cost Share: Up to $170.9 million

Selectee: Kraft Heinz

Project Summary

The Delicious Decarbonization Through Integrated Electrification and Energy Storage project, led by Kraft Heinz, plans to upgrade, electrify, and decarbonize its process heat at 10 facilities by applying a range of technologies including heat pumps, electric heaters, and electric boilers in combination with biogas boilers, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, and thermal energy storage. The tailored application of these technologies at each facility expects to reduce annual emissions by more than 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, translating to a 99% reduction from 2022 levels. By demonstrating the integration of multiple decarbonization pathways, this project seeks to help a major American brand achieve deep decarbonization and serve as an example for other U.S. food and beverage companies to reduce emissions from process heat while reducing energy costs.

This project expects to create an estimated 500 construction jobs across the 10 sites. Three of the 10 project sites (Fremont, OH; Holland, MI; and Muscatine, IA) currently have unionized labor. All sites have People Committees as part of the Kraft Heinz Management System that includes hourly and salaried employee representatives including human resources. An Energy Champion will join the Committee to represent any worker concerns and serve as coordinator between the project team and plant workers. Kraft Heinz anticipates the implementation of new technologies would require additional training and skills for employees at each site. Many of the plants have developed partnerships with community schools to further train and develop plant employees.

Location: Shelbyville, Kentucky and Plainfield, Illinois

Federal Cost Share: Up to $75 million

Selectee: Diageo Americas Supply, Inc.

Project Summary

In the Heat Batteries for Deep Decarbonization of the Beverage Industry project, Diageo Americas Supply, Inc. (Diageo) plans to partner with Rondo Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to replace natural gas-fired heat with Rondo Heat Batteries powered by onsite renewable energy and electric boilers at facilities in Shelbyville, Kentucky and Plainfield, Illinois. These upgrades would reduce carbon emissions by nearly 17,000 metric tons per year to decarbonize the production facilities for spirits, ready-to-drink cocktails, and Bulleit whiskey. These facility upgrades would provide a highly replicable blueprint for how manufacturing facilities can integrate thermal batteries with intermittent renewable energy to achieve direct decarbonization while reliably and competitively delivering a consumer-facing product to market.

The project aims to create approximately 144 construction jobs across the two locations. The Plainfield plant is unionized with Liquor and Allied Workers Local 3 and both facilities use unionized contractors. Additionally, Diageo is committed to sharing facility air and water quality monitoring results with the public to inform local communities about reductions in criteria air pollutants as a result of this project.

Location: Toledo, Ohio

Federal Cost Share: Up to $45.1 million

Selectee: Libbey Glass

Project Summary

The Flexible Fuel Electric Hybrid Glass Furnace Demonstration project, led by Libbey Glass, plans to replace four regenerative furnaces with two larger hybrid electric furnaces to reduce an estimated 60% of carbon dioxide emissions associated with the manufacturing of glass tableware products at Libbey’s facility in Toledo, Ohio. The hybrid furnaces combine the benefits of oxygen fuel with electric melting, replacing up to 80% of the melting energy with renewable-sourced electricity. Because glass tableware such as drinking glasses have some of the highest glass product standards, this project would be able to demonstrate the viability of electrification and alternative fuel use for the entire glass industry.

The electrification of this process is expected to significantly reduce criteria air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxide, and particulates, which would improve the air quality surrounding the facility. Additionally, this project anticipates generating approximately 268 construction jobs. Libbey plans to work with its unions, including the United Steelworkers and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and local education institutions to expand its apprenticeship programs for skilled trades including electricians and master tradesmen to increase employment and advancement opportunities in the local community.

Location: Tracy, California; Zanesville, Ohio; Toano, Virginia

Federal Cost Share: Up to $125 million

Selectee: O-I Glass, INC

Project Summary

The Glass Furnace Decarbonization Technology project, led by O-I Glass, plans to rebuild four furnaces across three of its facilities in California, Ohio, and Virginia to reduce scope one carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 48,000 metric tons per year, an average of 40% reduction of scope one emissions across the four furnaces and their corresponding production lines. The proposed rebuilds plan to combine five cutting-edge furnace technologies on each furnace, marking the first time that all five technologies have been implemented simultaneously. These technologies reduce waste heat, making the furnace more energy efficient and reducing both direct and indirect emissions. The project provides O-I Glass the opportunity to demonstrate the functionality of combining multiple technologies across different glass colors and container types.

O-I anticipates each project to support up to 300 construction jobs and plans to establish Project Labor Agreements and Community Workforce Agreements as needed throughout the project to ensure project success and workers’ rights. Additionally, O-I Glass is working to enhance the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts through the intentional engagement of underrepresented groups such as women, LGBTQ+, and veterans. O-I Glass and its charitable contributions would continue to support the communities through local investments in organizations, including the United Way, that address the communities’ social needs, arts and culture, education and career development, and environmental impact related to glass recycling and beyond.

Location: Modesto, California

Federal Cost Share: Up to $75 million

Selectee: Gallo Glass Company

Project Summary

The Hybrid Electric Glass Furnace Project, led by Gallo Glass, plans to install a demonstration hybrid electric furnace to reduce natural gas use by 70% and increase recycled content by 30% in its glass bottle production process. To maximize the project’s environmental benefits, Gallo Glass would leverage renewable energy provided by the local utility. Gallo Glass anticipates selling low-carbon glass bottles as a premium option, contributing to the decarbonization of a large portion of glass for California’s wine and spirits industry.

The project anticipates generating a significant number of new, permanent jobs at Gallo Glass and within the local recycling community. To support the anticipated new positions, Gallo Glass—in partnership with the Workforce Development Board of Stanislaus County, the Valley Occupational Learning and Technology (VOLT) Institute, and Modesto Junior College—plans to expand its existing training programs to integrate skills associated with the hybrid melting process as well as the latest glass manufacturing technologies. Additionally, Gallo Glass plans to work with local groups to support job skill development for persons with disabilities in the community. Both initiatives, along with others, would be overseen by an advisory committee comprised of community members and industry professionals.

Gallo Glass plans to partner with the City of Modesto Recycling Coordinator to support recycling education in the community and participation at local schools. Furthermore, this project will include the establishment of glass collection programs, which provide California Redemption Value (CRV) proceeds to support the construction of a centralized new inclusive playground to serve school-aged children. Gallo Glass would also introduce glass collection programs in regional disadvantaged communities. The California Energy Commission is also a planned partner in this project.

Location: TBD

Federal Cost Share: Up to $145 million

Selectee: Skyven Technologies

Project Summary

The Steam-Generating Heat Pumps for Cross-Sector Deep Decarbonization project, led by Skyven Technologies, plans to pioneer a process heat as a service model, electrifying steam production to replace natural gas boilers across a diverse array of energy-intensive industrial customers that currently rely on fossil-fired heat. By deploying this technology across multiple sectors, Skyven would demonstrate expertise and economic viability of this technology solution that can be replicated among diverse heat-using manufacturers. Process heat consumes more energy than any other manufacturing end use, in 2018 it accounted for 31% of the manufacturing sector’s total energy-related emissions. Electrification of process heat technologies provides a huge potential for decarbonization.

Skyven’s electrification approach aims to improve air quality at each facility by displacing natural gas boilers, which would eliminate their associated criteria air pollutant emissions including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter. Skyven is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion through intentional engagement of underrepresented groups.

Location: Casa Grande, Arizona

Federal Cost Share: Up to $51.2 million

Selectee: Kohler

Project Summary

The Vikrell Electric Boiler & Microgrid System project, led by Kohler, plans to upgrade its new Vikrell bath and shower fixture manufacturing facility in Casa Grande, Arizona. The project plans to install electric boilers and a microgrid consisting of a 21 MW solar array and a 20.5 MW battery energy storage system. The project expects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 7,865 metric tons per year and demonstrate the viability of a renewables and microgrid system to decarbonize process heat emissions from a wide range of manufacturing processes. The cutting-edge system intends to provide seamless switching between energy sources to optimize decarbonization and economics, eliminating carbon emissions from natural gas boilers for industrial process heating.

The new plant anticipates creating an estimated 400 permanent jobs with competitive wages. Kohler’s microgrid is projected to reduce demand on the grid, alleviating stress on the energy infrastructure and enhancing grid stability for local residents.