WILO - 1.8 billion with pumps. CTO Georg Weber #ENERGYZONE

Yes, my name is Georg Weber, I am the CTO of WILO SE and also a member of the board. Alongside that, I am responsible for production, development, supply chain, and quality. And as a hobby, I also act as an ambassador for emerging markets.

That's a tough question. We manufacture about 43,000 different products per year. We develop and produce water pumps from 1 watt up to 12.5 megawatts — a treasure trove for engineers. The power range is about 12 million units across the portfolio, making the business very exciting and varied, but also complex. Of course, we don't only produce pumps but also pump systems, fire extinguishing systems, water filter systems. But the core product globally is pumps, in many different forms. From small drinking water circulation pumps and heating circulation pumps — as known in Germany — to our founding father's invention of the circulation accelerator in 1928, which is the father of all circulation pumps. For larger buildings, the pumps get bigger; we make pressure boosting systems for high-rises so you can still shower on the 70th floor. Then we go beyond buildings into drinking water supply, wastewater disposal, borehole pumps installed up to 100 meters deep to tap water reservoirs. So very diverse.

Indeed, we grew 14% last year and reached nearly 1.9 billion euros in global revenue. Worldwide we have about 80 subsidiaries and 15 larger factories across all regions — from the USA, South America, strong in Germany and Europe, with two factories in France, one in Germany, one in Turkey, Dubai, and further east: three factories in China, three in India, South Korea, and so on. And regarding the pressure in the showers of the Burj Khalifa — there's a high probability that we equipped some of the pumps. I was there myself and spoke with the service manager; we do supply some pumps.

It's very different by field. In Germany, energy efficiency is very high on the agenda. Pumps run 24/7 unseen in the basement, but efficient pumps can save up to 80-90% energy by running only on demand with low power draw. That's a growth driver. In Germany, we estimate 60-75% of pumps are still inefficient. Globally, about 10% of all electricity goes into pumps — comparable to lighting. If we replace those inefficient pumps, just in Germany replacing small residential pumps in one year would save the equivalent of two coal power plants. Worldwide, the pump industry has a potential to save 80 coal power plants through efficiency.

Let me answer step by step. Regarding energy balance: we calculated that for a typical pump, the energy used in scope 1 and 2 during manufacturing is only about 2% of the total energy consumed over its 10-15 year life (some pumps last 40 years). So the manufacturing phase is negligible compared to the usage phase. Nevertheless, we focus on reducing CO2 with suppliers, and some are already on the path to carbon neutrality. For production in Dortmund: we produce motors for pumps — about 10 million motors globally per year, and we also buy some, totaling 11 million pumps. In Dortmund, we have an electronics manufacturing facility where we assemble PCBs. This is our master factory for electronics. As for competitiveness in Germany: as a family company, we have high social standards and are connected to the city of Dortmund. We handle growth through automation and digitalization, which keeps labor costs under control in total manufacturing costs.

Yes, I can confirm that Enapter and Sebastian Josef Schmidt work closely with us. We have a partnership and are building an H2 power plant — autonomously producing green hydrogen in two 40-foot containers. We use PV electricity from our 3-megawatt solar roof to run the electrolyzer from Enapter, convert it, and store the hydrogen in a large tank. This gives two benefits: we can use excess solar energy on weekends or holidays to produce hydrogen, which we then use during production peaks or as backup emergency power. This concept attracts many interested customers, especially mid-sized companies. We are still in the optimization phase, but the system is already operational.

Well, the phone isn't exactly ringing non-stop, but these are different cases. For example, if we get the PV roof mandate for large logistics halls, they will have excess power. They could use our solution to produce hydrogen from that excess and then also power hydrogen trucks. There are many options. The key is to cut the peaks from renewable oversupply, store it, and feed it back into the grid. That would be a giant leap for Germany's energy balance. Many wind turbines are shut down not because they're broken but because there's no demand at that moment. With electrolyzers of various sizes, we can store that excess summer sun or wind energy and feed it back. For us, it's more likely to serve small wind farms or individual turbines, but the electrolyzers can scale. Also, if we use the waste heat from the electrolyzers and fuel cells, we reach overall system efficiencies above 60-65%, using thermal energy for heating or adiabatic cooling.

Digitalization is very important to us. We are internally well-positioned as a digital pioneer, and our products are advanced in digital formats and connectivity, including AI. However, we operate in an environment with very complex, non-commodity products. E-commerce is difficult in our industry, which is also very conservative. So we focus on optimizing processes between customer and us rather than commercial platforms. That varies greatly by country. In Europe, Poland, Romania, Scandinavia are more digital. In Romania, there's a higher DIY rate, so people are more willing to install complex pumps themselves — not in Germany. In China, we already do double-digit millions in revenue via e-commerce, and we are starting in Korea.

Exactly, these kinds of projects are increasing. We are in the middle of climate change and we...

We are already working on mitigating and preventing water scarcity, but unfortunately there are far too many projects worldwide where the situation is already dramatic regarding drinking water. For example, in India, we build large pumps in our own factories there. Some areas are heavily affected by monsoons, with enormous amounts of water for three months, while other areas are almost uninhabitable due to drought. We pump water over hundreds of kilometers, from one river to another, using pipes several meters in diameter, moving up to 20,000 cubic meters per hour. Similar projects exist for Beijing's water supply from the Yangtze River, hundreds of kilometers away. The water is treated in waterworks. Regarding your question about dry areas and the Toska project: the Egyptian government decided to reduce dependence on wheat imports, which were disrupted by the war in Ukraine. They are creating agricultural land around the Nile dam, irrigating large areas to grow grain. We see many such projects worldwide, like a major project in Morocco to supply Casablanca with drinking water by pumping water from other cities over 70 km.

It's a bit further south. I think we start from Rabat. I'm not strong on geography in Morocco, but from Rabat it's south, not directly on the coast. But this shows the global challenges with drinking water supply. You mentioned at the beginning that we also experienced very different water amounts in Germany last year. We need to be more careful with water, use rainwater better, have retention basins, green roofs, etc. I think as private individuals we can also do a lot.

There is a huge need. On one hand, wastewater, depending on how it is treated, could be reused in agriculture. In Germany, that is not yet allowed. There are also issues with plastics and chemicals like pesticides. The discussion about a fourth treatment stage is ongoing. We are working on it; for example, we build filter systems for cruise ships so that treated wastewater is discharged, not untreated. It is important to try to reuse water for agricultural purposes. We are heavily involved in this regarding sewage treatment plants. But you have to imagine that many countries don't even have sewage treatment plants yet; wastewater still flows untreated into rivers. We support projects worldwide. On filtration, we use ultrafiltration to remove pollutants. Overall, it's about better and more careful water management.

I have to admit I'm not a specialist on desalination. We have supplied some filter systems for desalination plants. It goes through the osmosis process, which is energetically very demanding. You can only do it if you have the corresponding energy, and the output is not that high. I can't say it's a solution. The water itself has no minerals, but people in some parts of the world are already used to drinking desalinated water. I'm not the right person to say how that could develop; that's thin ice for me.

I don't know the process. But on the Toska project, is it at the technical limit? If there is enough water, you could replicate it. But you also have to see that some people say it's wrong to take water from the river because it could make things difficult downstream. We know the issue with Sudan, where there have been armed conflicts over water. Who can take how much water from the rivers? That is certainly a topic, but I can't say exactly. As a company, we are not involved in that decision.

You can replicate it, but you also have to see that there are people who say it's wrong to take water from the river because it could affect downstream areas. We know the issue with Sudan, where there have been armed conflicts over water. Who can take how much water from the rivers? That is certainly a topic, but I can't say exactly. As a company, we are not involved in that decision.

Correct, correct. That is clearly our goal: decentralized solutions. The big business is not our business. We don't pump gas, we only pump water. So the technology is somewhat different. It will be decentralized, certainly. From what I understand, you can also mix, but that will take several years. What we offer is a decentralized solution that can be offered in larger quantities in a few years.

Yes, in heat pump systems, I like to say that too, otherwise it's a bit confusing. In water-based heat pumps, we are inside with our pumps. They are comparable to the circulation pumps in a family home, same size because the water flows are designed accordingly. Typically, we say about 1.6 to 2 pumps per heat pump system. We are inside with all the major players, even in Asia, China, and partly with Japanese manufacturers. So that's the international business.

The actual pumping of water has reached efficiency levels in the 90% range. There is hardly any progress there, minimal through material selection. The basic functionality is also very standardized, state of the art. Where you differentiate is in the application of the pump: how you operate it, how you control it, how you control it in a network. There are differences. Typically, pumps are oversized worldwide. That is waste on top. The more you design the pump for the actual demand, the more energy you can save. But people prefer to buy a bit larger so it doesn't run at peak performance and lasts longer. That thought is correct and legitimate. But I also know it: a bit more, we can add a bit more. If you want to get the last two percent, you have to go there.

Doing a hydraulic balance would be a good idea.

The actual pumping of water has reached efficiency levels in the 90% range. There is hardly any progress there, minimal through material selection. The basic functionality is also very standardized, state of the art. Where you differentiate is in the application of the pump: how you operate it, how you control it, how you control it in a network. There are differences. Typically, pumps are oversized worldwide. That is waste on top. The more you design the pump for the actual demand, the more energy you can save. But people prefer to buy a bit larger so it doesn't run at peak performance and lasts longer. That thought is correct and legitimate. But I also know it: a bit more, we can add a bit more. If you want to get the last two percent, you have to go there.

The last keyword is correct: you can recycle it properly. We are grateful and take back all pumps we can get, including competitor products. We have set up a recycling process. We disassemble the pumps and return them to areas where they are optimally utilized, whether it's copper, aluminum, steel, or electronics. We have also made our products recyclable and have design guidelines for recycling. For example, in our permanent magnet motors, the magnets are no longer glued but only inserted, so when the pump comes back, we can take them out and reuse them. We are moving more in this direction, investing a bit more in manufacturing, but it improves serviceability and recyclability. We can claim that we recycle 100% of the pumps. This process is set up not only in Germany but also in France, China, and other regions.

They are already very smart. We can digitally map all load cases. For most pumps, we can offer remote access, so you can connect the heart-lung machine, so to speak. But it's enough to look at the current curve of the pumps; you see immediately if there is an anomaly. That is rare, but you can do it. Of course, you don't do that for small pumps at home; no one looks at how their pump in the basement is running. We have these pumps, you can buy them, but it's not really purposeful. For larger pumps that can't be easily replaced, like in the Toska project in Egypt, you can monitor them remotely and see when current curves rise, indicating it's time for a bearing change. How smart are the pumps? They are very smart. We use AI to map certain curves and see patterns. We have electronically controlled circuits that can regulate the pump when it enters certain situations. Smart also means making them connectable: you can see how the pump is doing via your mobile phone or iPad, and you can also set and control it. There are many possibilities. We are now in the phase where we are playing with AI so that the pump learns and optimizes itself further for the situation it finds.

On one hand, we will build new factories: one in India opening in June, one in China in September. On the other hand, the topic of H2 will be a super exciting topic because we are all somehow affected to develop it further, to see where the sweet spots are where we can provide a solution. What is also super exciting for us is how strongly the replacement of inefficient pumps will be pushed in Europe, and how well we can meet the needs of the industry and the market. That will be a very exciting topic in the next few years in Europe.

Very gladly, it was fun. All the best to you. Thank you very much.