Active Refrigeration, alongside Alliance Group, is proud to have been awarded the Low Carbon Future Award at the 2026 New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards for the Alliance High Temperature Heat Pump Projects.

The award recognises a programme of high-temperature heat pump installations delivered across Alliance Group’s Pukeuri, Lorneville and Mataura processing sites between 2021 and 2025. Together, the systems provide more than 11 MW of high-temperature heat pump capacity, recovering heat that would otherwise be lost and reducing the amount of process heat generated by ageing coal-fired boilers.

Across the three sites, the projects are estimated to reduce emissions by approximately 25,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent each year, comparable to taking around 10,000 cars off the road. The result demonstrates how industrial heat recovery and natural refrigerant technology can deliver meaningful environmental benefits while providing a practical and economically viable solution for large-scale industry.

Built Through Collaboration

The programme has been a long-term journey, with the first project concepts dating back to 2018. Each installation presented its own engineering challenges, requiring Active Refrigeration and Alliance Group to work closely together to develop solutions around the requirements of each operating site.

That collaboration has been central to the success of the programme. Alliance trusted the Active Refrigeration team to engineer solutions that had not previously been implemented within its operations at this scale, while each project provided lessons that could be carried forward and improved upon at the next site.

Integrating new heat pump technology into existing ammonia refrigeration plants while maintaining production required careful planning, engineering and upgrades across refrigeration, water and electrical infrastructure.

Recognition for the Teams Behind the Project

Winning the Low Carbon Future Award is a great acknowledgement of the people and organisations who have contributed to bringing these projects to life.

We would like to recognise the teams at Alliance Group and Active Refrigeration, along with EECA, whose support has helped enable innovation in lower-carbon energy solutions.

Most importantly, the award highlights what can be achieved when long-term thinking, practical engineering and genuine collaboration come together to solve complex industrial challenges.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

Discover the Alliance Group Project

Learn more about the technology behind the Alliance heat recovery programme, including the Mataura high-temperature heat pump installation and the results being achieved across the three southern processing sites.