€1 Billion in European Funding for Industrial Heat: Discover the Heat Auction 2026
What is the Heat Auction 2026?
The Heat Auction is a European funding mechanism under the Innovation Fund that encourages industrial companies to replace fossil-fuel-based heat production with cleaner alternatives.
Eligible technologies include:
- Industrial heat pumps that recover and reuse waste heat.
- Electric boilers for heat and steam generation.
- Electric process heating, using technologies such as induction or resistance heating.
- Thermal energy storage to enable more flexible heat production.
- Renewable heat, including solar thermal and geothermal energy.
Certain hybrid systems and innovative nuclear heat technologies may also qualify.
How much funding can your company receive?
The available budget is divided into three temperature categories:
Temperature > Budget > Minimal Capacity > Maximum Grant
- 80–100°C > €100 million > 5 MWth > €100 million
- 100–400°C > €600 million > 3 MWth > €100 million
- Above 400°C > €300 million > 3 MWth > €250 million
In addition, the investment must amount to at least €2.5 million and involve a new installation for which work has not yet started. The 80–100°C category is subject to additional technology-specific requirements.
The Heat Auction does not operate like a conventional investment grant. Companies submit competitive bids, expressed as the amount of funding requested per tonne of direct CO₂ emissions avoided.
The maximum bid price is €400/tCO₂ for heat up to 400°C and €800/tCO₂ for higher-temperature heat.
Successful projects can receive a fixed premium for up to five years, based on their actual heat production. Certain projects, including those featuring thermal storage or highly efficient heat pumps, may also benefit from a 25% bid-ranking bonus.
When can you apply?
The final terms and conditions were published on 24 September 2026. The funding call is expected to open in December 2026, with a planned application deadline in February 2027.
Companies considering eligible projects should therefore begin preparing now, starting with a technical and economic feasibility assessment.
How can Enprove support your company?
Electrification offers significant opportunities, but it is not necessarily economically viable for every industrial process.
The availability of recoverable waste heat, required process temperatures, electricity and natural gas prices, and investment costs all influence the feasibility of a project.
Enprove helps you assess the potential of your industrial heat processes. We identify technologies that are technically and economically suitable, calculate their impact on energy costs and CO₂ emissions, and explore how funding opportunities could strengthen your business case.
Discover your industrial electrification potential
Would you like to know whether your company could qualify for the Heat Auction 2026, or explore opportunities to decarbonise your industrial heat production?
Arrange a no-obligation consultation with an Enprove energy expert. Together, we will assess the opportunities for your business.
Source: European Commission – Heat Auction 2026, Final Terms & Conditions, 24 September 2026.