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Electrifying industrial heat can cut emissions where electric equipment fits the process and the electricity powering it is cleaner than the fuel it replaces. The clearest near-term opportunity is lower-temperature heat and steam: heat pumps, electric boilers and resistance heaters can serve much of the demand in sectors such as food, textiles, paper and chemicals. But electrification is not a universal drop-in replacement for gas. Temperature, power prices, grid access, plant design and the electricity mix determine whether it is practical and how much it reduces emissions.
Why process heat matters to industrial emissions
Industrial heat is a large decarbonization opportunity because many manufacturing processes need heat or steam that can, in principle, be supplied by electric equipment. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that broad industrial sectors relying primarily on low-temperature heat and steam account for roughly 70% of global industrial energy consumption. In those sectors, direct energy-related CO₂ emissions were nearly 3 Gt in 2023—about half of direct industrial emissions for the sectors described in the IEA report. Those figures establish the scale of the opportunity, not the emissions savings that electrification will automatically deliver at any individual plant. IEA, Renewables for Industry
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Heat is also a substantial part of manufacturing energy use in the United States. The U.S. Department of Energy says process heating accounted for 51% of onsite manufacturing energy use in 2018. Its overview also estimates that about one-third of process-heating energy ultimately leaves as waste heat, making heat recovery and process efficiency relevant before or alongside electrification. U.S. Department of Energy, Finding Efficiencies in Process Heat
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Which technologies fit which heat needs?
The first screening question is the heat or steam specification: required temperature, pressure, continuity and quality. The IEA describes commercially established industrial heat pumps for heat up to 150°C, and electric boilers supplying steam up to 350°C and around 70 bar. These are different equipment capabilities, not interchangeable limits. The IEA’s broader discussion of heat pumps serving needs up to 200°C is an outlook framing; it should not be read as the established operating range for every commercial system or application.
| Option | How it supplies heat | Best-fit considerations | Main constraints |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial heat pump | Uses electricity to raise the temperature of heat, often recovered from a waste-heat stream. | Lower-temperature process heat where a suitable heat source and sink can be integrated. Generally more efficient than resistance heating for the same heat output. | Capital and installation costs are higher than for electric boilers in the IEA’s comparison; achievable temperature, heat source, site layout and process integration matter. |
| Electric boiler | Converts electricity directly into heat or steam. | Steam requirements beyond a heat pump’s suitable range, backup service, or operation alongside other heat sources. The IEA reports capability up to 350°C and around 70 bar. | Lower conversion efficiency than heat pumps can make operating costs sensitive to electricity prices. Requires adequate electrical capacity. |
| Thermal storage | Stores heat for use later, using sensible, latent or thermochemical approaches. | Plants able to charge storage when power is cheaper or renewable electricity is more available, then draw heat when needed. Materials can include sand, cement and bricks. | Value depends on storage sizing, charging equipment, tariffs and the plant’s operating profile; storage is not automatically an economic improvement. |
| Resistance heater | Turns electricity directly into heat at the point of use. | Processes where direct electric heating is compatible with the equipment and heat specification. | For the same heat output, a heat pump is generally more efficient; electricity cost and grid capacity remain important. |
For less energy-intensive industries, the IEA estimates that they use around 30% of global industrial energy and that about 75% of their heat demand is below 200°C. That makes them a meaningful area to examine for electrification, but the 200°C figure describes demand, not a claim that every heat pump can serve it. IEA commentary, Can low-temperature heat in factories be electrified competitively?
Where electrification is practical now
Lower-temperature heat and steam are the nearer-term candidates, particularly in manufacturing subsectors such as food, textiles, paper and chemicals. The IEA says commercially available heat pumps, electric boilers and resistance heaters can meet much of the heat demand in these subsectors. “Much” does not mean all: each line still needs to be matched to a technology that can meet its actual temperature, pressure, throughput and uptime requirements. IEA, Renewables for Industry executive summary
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A heat pump is especially worth assessing when a site has a usable waste-heat source and a process that needs heat at a temperature the pump can deliver. Its efficiency advantage over direct electric heating can lower electricity use for a given heat output, but it must be weighed against its higher equipment and installation costs and the complexity of connecting the heat source, pump and process.
Electric boilers can suit higher-temperature steam, backup or flexible operation, including hybrid systems that retain a fuel-fired boiler. A boiler’s ability to produce high-pressure steam does not settle the business case: its operating cost depends heavily on the electricity price, and its emissions depend on the power supply.
What real projects show—and do not show
IEA-cited projects show that electrified heat and storage are operating in industry, but they use different technologies and do not establish a universal cost or performance result.
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- A fishmeal manufacturer in Norway installed 5 MW of heat pumps for process steam.
- A corn-processing plant in Hungary installed 56 MWh of electrified heat and thermal storage.
- A brewery in Spain uses a 30 MW solar-thermal system.
- A thermal-storage company installed 100 MWh and 33 MWh units in the United States and Thailand, respectively.
The examples span heat pumps, thermal storage and solar thermal; they should not be described collectively as all-electric heat-pump projects. They demonstrate deployment in particular settings, not that the same arrangement will work economically at another plant. IEA project examples
When electrification is likely to cut emissions
Electrification reduces direct fossil-fuel use at the process, but it does not make heat zero-carbon by itself. The net emissions effect depends on the electricity supply and the fuel and process being displaced. A plant should therefore assess the emissions intensity of its local grid electricity or contracted supply, and distinguish the reduction in direct onsite fuel emissions from any full lifecycle emissions comparison.
The IEA projects electricity’s share of global industrial heat consumption to rise from 4% in 2024 to 12% in 2030. This is an outlook, not an observed 2030 result or a forecast for any single country or plant. IEA, Renewables 2025: Renewable heat
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How to judge the economics
Compare the full heat system, not just the purchase price of an electric unit against a gas boiler. Relevant factors include installed equipment and integration costs, efficiency, fuel and electricity prices, tariffs and network charges, annual operating hours, storage, grid-connection costs and timing, any applicable carbon costs, and potential value from flexibility services. Results vary with geography and operating conditions.
In its modeled comparison, the IEA found industrial heat pumps economically attractive against existing gas boilers in several EU member states, with a modeled levelized cost of heat (LCOH) range of 41–74 EUR/MWh across the countries examined. Electric boilers remained more expensive in many cases because of their lower efficiency, although Northern European market conditions offered opportunities. These are modeled country cases, not a general price quote for a new project. The IEA’s cost illustrations use 2024 price inputs and exclude uncertain grid-connection costs. IEA cost analysis
Storage and hybrid operation can shift electricity use to lower-cost periods, but the result depends on the tariff and plant profile. In an IEA Germany example using 2024 prices, an electric boiler with thermal storage could more than halve average electricity costs for heating compared with a standalone electric boiler. A modeled configuration combining an electric boiler, an existing gas boiler and storage achieved an average purchased electricity cost of EUR 12/MWh. That figure is the modeled cost of purchased electricity in that configuration—not LCOH—and should not be applied as a universal industrial heat price. In the IEA’s cited configurations, hybridisation did not improve modeled heat-pump LCOH. IEA Germany example and modeling qualifications
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A practical sequence for assessing a plant
- Map heat demand and supply. Record temperatures, steam pressures, loads, operating schedules and heat sources and sinks across the site. Identify recoverable waste heat, process losses and opportunities for thermal optimisation.
- Reduce avoidable demand first. Evaluate waste-heat recovery, insulation, process controls and plant-level thermal optimisation. The IEA identifies these as comparatively low-cost measures that reduce fuel use and can lower the capacity and investment needed for subsequent electrification.
- Match each process to equipment. Screen heat pumps against required temperatures and available heat sources; assess electric boilers or resistance heating where direct electric heat better fits the process. Consider whether storage or a hybrid arrangement matches the plant’s operating schedule.
- Model the site economics and emissions. Use local electricity and fuel tariffs, expected utilization, equipment and integration costs, grid charges, connection costs, and the relevant electricity emissions intensity. Treat results from another country or tariff structure as a comparison, not a forecast for this site.
- Check delivery constraints. Confirm grid capacity and connection timing, plant downtime and retrofit complexity, regulatory issues, workforce skills, and how new equipment will integrate with existing process controls and heat systems.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s guide recommends a site assessment that maps heat sources and sinks, regulatory issues, and design and implementation options. This kind of integrated assessment helps avoid sizing an electric system before understanding the plant’s recoverable heat and actual demand. SEAI, Electrification of Industrial Heat Guide
Why location and policy change the answer
Electrification depends on more than equipment availability. The IEA identifies grid planning, electricity taxes and network charges, support for capital and operating costs, workforce training and interoperable standards as policy priorities. Its 2025 analysis describes different regional constraints: energy prices and grids in the EU, substantial additional electricity demand in China despite coordinated policies, and capital, grid and finance constraints in ASEAN industrial parks. A technically suitable project can still be delayed or uneconomic if grid access or tariff design is unfavorable. IEA, Renewables for Industry executive summary
The IEA’s December 2025 commentary by Richard Simon, Energy Modeller – Industry, and Pol Guardia Calsina, Former IEA Energy Analyst, puts the broad case this way: “Electric heating technologies – one driver of the emerging Age of Electricity – can be applied in a wide range of industrial settings.” Applying them well still requires matching the technology, energy supply and plant economics to each process. IEA commentary
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