Decarbonising industry through district heating networks: ALLICE is involved in the European INTREPIDH project
In line with its commitment to facilitating the decarbonisation of industry across Europe, the ALLICE Alliance is involved in the European INTREPIDH project (Interregional Examples of the Process Industry and District Heating).
With a duration of 19 months and a budget of €150k, INTREPIDH aims to gather, develop and share knowledge to promote the decarbonisation of industrial heating through district heating. It brings together a consortium of eight organisations from France, Denmark and Germany and is coordinated by the Danish Board of District Heating (DBDH).
The project’s members include numerous key players in the energy transition, such as the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena), NRW.Energy4Climate, the City of Rostock, the SDEWES Centre and Axelera.
INTREPIDH, a European project at the crossroads of industrial decarbonisation and heating
The INTREPIDH project highlights the potential synergies between district heating and the industrial sector for supplying low-carbon energy to industrial processes.
The research carried out as part of this initiative suggests that the energy transitions in these two sectors go hand in hand, offering numerous mutual benefits: industry secures affordable, carbon-neutral heat; district heating providers expand and strengthen their networks; and local authorities benefit from more efficient and resilient energy systems.
This new approach offers significant potential in Europe, with a range of solutions but also a number of obstacles. The INTREPIDH project aims specifically to highlight these by gathering and sharing practical experiences drawn from a wide variety of cases.
Please note! Industrial heat is often confused with waste heat.
Industrial heat refers to the energy essential for the operation of industrial processes. Whilst it is currently produced mainly from fossil fuels, in the future it could come predominantly from carbon-free sources, such as the energy generated as part of district heating schemes: it is this potential that INTREPIDH aims to investigate.
The latest publications and news from INTREPIDH
A catalogue of best practices featuring 12 examples from
5 European countries!
A series of webinars to explore every aspect of the topic!
The project consortium recently published a catalogue of best practices highlighting the potential of district heating networks, which are capable of meeting between 32 and 48 per cent of Europe’s heat demand by 2050.
The document features project factsheets detailing 12 case studies of industrial use of heat from an urban district heating network across five European countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, France and Croatia). Among these, four case studies from France are highlighted: in Strasbourg, Pierrelatte, Angers and Grenoble.
The use of district heating offers considerable advantages for the decarbonisation of industrial processes. Through a series of webinars, INTREPIDH aims to highlight these benefits and identify practical avenues for deployment across Europe.
The first webinar, scheduled for November 2025, will aim to explain what industrial heat from district heating is, explore its potential for development in Europe and analyse several case studies presented in the best practice guide.
The webinars will take place every month from November to June 2025–2026, except in December and during the summer months.