The award was presented at the German SME Summit in Heidelberg by former German President Christian Wulff, mentor of the TOP 100 innovation competition. In the independent scientific evaluation, sp.ICE was recognized in Category A, for companies with up to 50 employees in Germany, and stood out in the field of innovation processes and organization.
Ice as a Thermal Battery
sp.ICE develops and manufactures ice thermal energy storage systems that store heating and cooling energy in the form of ice. Managing Director Christoph Rosinski describes the technology as a ’thermal battery’: "When water freezes and melts, it can store and release large amounts of thermal energy whenever it is needed," says Rosinski. "This enables our customers to make more efficient use of renewable energy, reduce peak electricity demand, lower CO₂ emissions, and benefit from lower electricity prices."
Managing Director Wolf-Roland Fischer adds: "Energy efficiency is clearly no longer a 'nice-to-have'; it has become a decisive competitive advantage. Being recognized as a TOP 100 innovator demonstrates that innovation and sustainability go hand in hand in Germany's SME sector. Our solutions help customers reduce energy costs while making meaningful progress towards their climate goals."
Using Solar Energy for Cooling
One example is the Europaplatz project in Heidelberg, where sp.ICE technology helps to use solar energy for cooling. The project achieves efficiency gains of 20 percent and reduces CO₂ emissions by more than 800 tons per year.
The approach is also very interesting for buildings and industrial processes with high cooling requirements. Industries such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals rely on process cooling, while data centers and other critical infrastructure require uninterrupted cooling capacity.
Because water is used as the storage medium, ice storage offers an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional energy storage systems.
Operators can generate cooling when electricity is inexpensive or renewable energy is available, store it in the ice storage system, and use it later during peak demand.
About the TOP 100 Award
Since 1993, the TOP 100 Award has recognized Germany’s most innovative SMEs. The competition is organized by compamedia and scientifically led by Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke, founder and chairman of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Project partners include the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research and the German Association for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (BVMW). Former German President Christian Wulff serves as mentor to the initiative.
Patented Capillary Technology
A key innovation behind the system is sp.ICE’s patented capillary tube technology. Thousands of tubes with a diameter of just 4.5 millimeters are arranged at 10-millimeter intervals, creating a large heat-exchange surface within the storage unit.
According to Fischer, this enables faster charging and discharging of thermal energy than conventional ice storage technologies. In critical applications such as data centers, stored cooling capacity can provide immediate backup cooling in the event of system failures. The thermal energy can also be stored for several days, increasing operational resilience.
