The European Commission has selected 65 projects under the Innovation Fund Heat Auction, its first EU-wide auction to accelerate deployment of innovative clean heat technologies in European industry.
The projects are located in 10 European Economic Area countries: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. They will use technologies to decarbonise industrial heat production and support market uptake of electrified heat and heat produced directly from renewable sources.
According to the Commission, the projects will avoid more than 6.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions over 10 years by replacing natural gas-fuelled heat production systems. They are expected to produce around 16.3 TWh of decarbonised heat over their first five years of operation, based on thermal capacity of 766 MW. This is equivalent to replacing more than 1.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas over five years.
The projects will receive around €400 million in grants from the Innovation Fund, financed by the EU Emissions Trading System. The auction selected 5 projects under the high-temperature heat topic with €62.1 million in support, 44 projects under the medium-temperature heat topic above 5 MW capacity with €286.5 million, and 16 projects under the medium-temperature heat topic with 3–5 MW capacity with €47.9 million.
Most selected projects rely on direct or indirect resistance heating. Other technologies include heat pumps, solar thermal, electromagnetic and dielectric heating, and hybrid technologies. Industrial off-taker sectors include pulp and paper, glass, ceramics and construction materials, iron and steel, food and beverage, textiles and pharmaceuticals.
The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency will prepare grant agreements with the selected projects. Grant agreements are expected to be signed in the second half of 2026, and the final list of signed projects under the Innovation Fund Heat Auction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026.
