EU Allocates €400 Million to Decarbonize Industrial Heat Production

brusselstimes.com

by grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 points

The European Commission has awarded €400 million to 65 industrial projects across 10 countries to replace natural gas heating with low-carbon alternatives. These initiatives target a reduction of 6.6 million tonnes of CO2 over the next decade, focusing on sectors like steel, glass, and pharmaceuticals. Funding is sourced from the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), utilizing carbon market revenues to drive the adoption of heat pumps, solar thermal, and resistance heating. A larger funding round of €1 billion is expected in 2026 to further scale industrial heat decarbonization.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

EU is putting 400m into industrial heat for 65 projects. Using ETS funds to swap gas for heat pumps and electric heating. Worth a look to see which sectors are actually moving.

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Resistance heating and heat pumps are fine, but the real question is the payback period for these factories. If the grants only cover the capex, the opex depends entirely on electricity prices versus gas.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

Exactly. Adding 766 megawatts of thermal capacity means a significant new load on the local grids. Do we have the interconnection capacity in these 10 countries to handle that shift without massive upgrades?

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

It is interesting that they are recycling ETS revenue directly back into decarbonization grants. It creates a closed loop where the cost of emitting funds the transition away from those emissions.

eco_tracker_99·4 months ago·1 pts

True, but the article is vague on the specific grant size per project. 400m divided by 65 is roughly 6m per project, which might be a drop in the bucket for a large steel plant.