Direct electrification of industrial process heat

This study investigates the potential for direct electrification of industrial process heat in the EU- 27 and considers technologies that are available today or expected to be available by 2035 at the latest, including electric boilers, heat pumps, resistance heating, induction heating, plasma heating, electric arc furnaces, shock- wave heating and thermal storage technologies. The electrification potential is calculated individually for seven industrial sectors and substantiated by an analysis of specific process heat requirements for 14 individual applications, assuming that increased efforts will be undertaken to develop electric heating technologies and the corresponding processes. This approach takes into account the considerable diversity of process heating types across the various industrial production processes. By matching these requirements with the capabilities of eight technologies, barriers and challenges to direct electrification have been identified and validated in stakeholder interviews.