The European Commission’s new Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) is a clear signal that Europe intends to couple industrial competitiveness with climate ambition. The proposal aims to strengthen Europe’s manufacturing base, reduce dependence on non‑EU suppliers and scale up clean technologies, especially in energy‑intensive sectors such as steel, chemicals, paper and other process industries. By rewarding low‑carbon, “Made in EU” solutions and streamlining permitting for strategic industrial projects, the IAA seeks to accelerate investments that keep value creation, jobs and know‑how in Europe.
For SteamDry, this policy shift directly echoes our core mission: enabling radically more energy‑ and resource‑efficient drying processes for web‑like materials such as paper, board, tissue and nonwovens. Drying is among the most energy‑consuming steps in these value chains; reducing its energy demand and associated emissions is essential if European manufacturers are to stay both competitive and on track with climate targets. By developing and demonstrating superheated steam drying (SSD) as a high‑efficiency alternative to conventional drying, SteamDry offers exactly the kind of transformative process innovation that the Industrial Accelerator Act is designed to support.
Decarbonising a key industrial bottleneck
In paper and board production, drying can account for a major share of total energy use and CO₂ emissions across the line. Traditional drying systems are often constrained by efficiency limits and fossil energy inputs, making it difficult for mills to significantly cut emissions without compromising productivity or incurring very high costs. At the same time, rising energy prices and stricter climate policies are putting pressure on producers to modernise their assets and improve performance.
SteamDry addresses this bottleneck by advancing superheated steam drying technology that can drastically reduce the energy intensity of drying while maintaining or even improving product quality. By using superheated steam instead of hot air, SSD can recover and reuse heat more effectively, enabling substantial energy savings and lower specific CO₂ emissions. This kind of step‑change in process efficiency directly supports the IAA’s objective to prioritise low‑carbon technologies in energy‑intensive industries and to make European plants leaders in clean production.
Supporting ‘Made in Europe’ industrial competitiveness
The Industrial Accelerator Act places strong emphasis on strengthening European production capacity and rewarding solutions that are developed and manufactured in Europe. For process industries such as pulp and paper, this means that technologies which can be deployed in European mills—improving their cost position and emissions profile—are strategically important. Keeping these industries competitive is not only about avoiding carbon leakage; it is also about safeguarding local employment, regional value chains and industrial know‑how.
SteamDry contributes to this goal by focusing on solutions that can be integrated into existing or new European production lines. By targeting high energy savings and reduced operating costs, SSD has the potential to help mills remain economically viable while meeting increasingly stringent climate and sustainability requirements. This alignment between industrial performance, climate action and European value creation mirrors the core logic of the IAA: public policies and private investments should reinforce each other to build a resilient, future‑proof industrial base in the EU.
Enabling faster deployment through innovation and integration
A key challenge for industrial decarbonisation is not only developing new technologies, but also integrating them into complex production systems with minimal disruption and risk. This is where SteamDry’s broader innovation approach becomes particularly relevant. The project does not focus solely on the drying technology itself; it also works on digital tools, process integration strategies and control concepts that help optimise SSD within real‑world industrial environments.
By supporting smarter, more integrated process control, SteamDry makes it easier for manufacturers to plan, deploy and operate advanced drying systems in practice. This is fully consistent with the Industrial Accelerator Act’s intent to accelerate clean‑tech deployment by reducing barriers, clarifying investment signals and promoting technologies that are ready for industrial‑scale application. In this way, SteamDry serves as a concrete example of how Horizon Europe research can feed into the implementation of broader EU industrial and climate policy.
A role model for clean, resilient process industries
The Industrial Accelerator Act sets out a direction: a more resilient, “Made in Europe” industrial base that leads on low‑carbon production rather than following global trends. SteamDry shows what this can look like in practice for process industries that rely heavily on thermal energy. By combining cutting‑edge drying technology with a strong focus on implementation in real industrial contexts, the project helps create a pathway for mills and manufacturers to cut emissions, lower energy use and remain competitive from Europe, for Europe.
As discussions around the Act continue, projects like SteamDry will be crucial in demonstrating that ambitious climate policies and robust industrial performance can reinforce each other. Superheated steam drying is not just a technical upgrade; it is part of a broader shift towards cleaner, smarter and more resilient process industries that embody the spirit of Europe’s new industrial agenda.
