{"id":24109,"date":"2026-01-28T14:36:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ehpa.org\/?p=24109"},"modified":"2026-02-10T09:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:22:12","slug":"annual-report-2025-the-industrial-sleeping-giant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ehpa.org\/news-and-resources\/publications\/annual-report-2025-the-industrial-sleeping-giant\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual report 2025: the industrial sleeping giant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Industrial heat pumps, which can reach temperatures of up to 200\u00b0C, are already being deployed in industries like paper and pulp, wood, chemicals, food and drink, and textiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

The potential is huge: they could provide\u00a0<\/span>around 39% of process heat needs<\/span><\/b>\u00a0if fully rolled out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EHPA\u00a0kicked off 2025 by bringing industrial heat pumps\u00a0<\/span>into the limelight<\/span><\/b>, holding a workshop followed by an EU Parliament debate hosted by Sean Kelly MEP on\u00a0the topic and specifically on how industrial heat pumps can recover and reuse\u00a0<\/span>waste heat.<\/span><\/p>\n

This was supported by\u00a0<\/span>press releases<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0an\u00a0<\/span>infographic leaflet<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0<\/span>communications\u202fcampaign.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Further events\u00a0EHPA was involved in dug in\u00a0even\u00a0more, from a session we co-organised at the EU Sustainable Energy Week,\u00a0to the\u00a0EU-funded\u00a0<\/span>SPIRIT project<\/span><\/a>\u2019s summer school in Denmark\u00a0organised with DTU,\u00a0to\u00a0our role as a partner with\u00a0<\/span>two speaking slots<\/span><\/b>\u00a0at the Industrial Heat Prague conference in November.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU is pushing the take-up of industrial heat pumps through policies focused on encouraging industrial electrification, such as the\u00a0<\/span>upcoming\u00a0Industrial Accelerator Act and\u00a0Electrification Action Plan.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0It is providing financing via a new\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Innovation Fund\u2019 auction<\/span><\/b>\u202ffor projects that decarbonise industrial process heat. This will be key to helping industry implement the switch from fossil fuel\u2013based technologies to clean alternatives such as heat pumps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another\u00a0important step\u00a0in EHPA\u2019s view would be by governments by shifting taxes off the electricity bill to make electrification more competitive \u2013 just\u00a0like for\u00a0residential heat pumps.<\/span><\/p>\n

EHPA\u00a0<\/span>partners with end user organisations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0such as paper and pulp body\u00a0Cepi, and in 2025 launched a new collaboration with the\u00a0man-made\u00a0fibres\u00a0sector\u00a0(CIRFS), as well as increasing dialogues with the chemicals and food and drink trade bodies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The latter sector is also the focus of the three-year\u00a0<\/span>EXQUISHEAT<\/span><\/a>\u00a0project, in which EHPA is a partner, and which will\u00a0identify\u00a0where heat pumps can deliver the greatest efficiency gains in the\u00a0<\/span>food and drink sector<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and develop replicable solutions ready for market adoption.\u00a0The\u00a0<\/span>BETTED<\/span><\/a>\u00a0project focuses specifically\u00a0<\/span>on the dairy industry<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and how\u00a0energy efficiency and heat pumps can be integrated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>SPIRIT project<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 as well as running the summer school mentioned above \u2013 is developing three full-scale demonstrations of heat pump technologies integrated at three different process sites in the paper and food & beverage\u00a0industries.<\/span><\/p>\n

EU<\/span>–<\/span>funded project\u00a0<\/span>PUSH2HEAT<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is looking into\u00a0<\/span>overcoming barriers<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and developing business\u00a0models, and\u00a0<\/span>GEOFLEXheat<\/span><\/a>\u00a0focuses on geothermal energy technology for use in industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

More information on our EU-funded projects, and how they drive innovation and support our policy work can be found\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more of our annual report 2025:<\/p>\n