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From Pilots to Policy: How Europe Can Scale Electrified Industrial Heat

Highlights

  • Industrial electrification is now seen as essential for Europe’s energy independence, competitiveness and climate neutrality, not just a technical option.
  • Process heat remains a major source of emissions in sectors like paper, ceramics, asphalt and aluminium, but proven electrified solutions already exist and work in pilots.
  • The biggest barrier to deployment is economics: electricity is still significantly more expensive than gas in many Member States, and upfront investment costs are high.
  • Policymakers and industry agree on the need for a coherent framework that combines the European Green Deal, ETS, targeted auctions, national funding and carbon pricing to structurally lower the cost of clean heat.
  • Industry voices stress that trust, digital control and proof of product quality are just as important as technology performance to convince conservative sectors to switch.

Main conclusions

  1. Electrification is a strategic necessity, not a niche option

Opening the policy panel, MEP Nicolás González Casares framed industrial electrification as “an essential condition for the future of Europe,” linking it directly to energy sovereignty and the need to reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel imports. He argued that the European Green Deal remains the key policy umbrella for industrial decarbonisation and warned that weakening its legislation would undermine progress on electrified heat.

Other panellists echoed this view: electrification is not only about cutting emissions, but about maintaining a competitive industrial base in Europe, where energy costs and climate policy are increasingly determining where companies invest and produce.

  1. The economics of energy are still the main bottleneck

Alper Akdag (A.SPIRE and ABB) highlighted that roughly half of industrial energy demand goes to process heating, yet only a small fraction of that heat is currently electrified. He underlined two major hurdles: relatively high electricity prices compared to gas in countries such as Germany, Belgium and Italy, and the significant capital expenditure required to convert existing fossil-based systems to electrified solutions.

Industry representatives, including Marcel Mallah (Fricke und Mallah Microwave Technology) and Katariina Torvinen (Valmet), confirmed that many customers will continue using gas as long as it is cheaper, even when microwave or other electric technologies deliver faster processes and lower energy use. For them, the price of electricity and the ability to stabilise business cases over the long term are decisive factors in investment decisions.

  1. Technology is ready at pilot level, but confidence and integration must follow

The panel built on earlier presentations from SteamDry and MetaWave showing that superheated steam drying and advanced microwave/plasma/induction heating can deliver substantial energy savings and CO₂ reductions in paper, ceramics, asphalt and aluminium. However, speakers stressed that moving from pilots to deployment is not only a matter of scaling equipment.

Marcel Mallah emphasised that microwave solutions require materials with suitable dielectric properties and that product quality must be validated through mechanical and physical testing, which demands time, money and dedicated research projects. Katariina Torvinen highlighted the need to integrate electrified components into whole‑mill concepts, supported by advanced digital control to manage variable renewable electricity and ensure stable operation.

  1. Policy tools must lower costs and de‑risk investment

When asked which policy or market change would most accelerate electrified industrial heat by 2030, panellists converged on three priorities:

  • Structural price signals: aligning taxation and carbon pricing so that electricity used for industrial heat is consistently cheaper than gas, including reforms to the Energy Taxation Directive and strong, predictable ETS rules that discourage fossil fuel use and fund clean alternatives.
  • Targeted funding and de‑risking: using instruments such as the Innovation Fund, industrial heat auctions, national recovery and resilience plans, and carbon contracts for difference (CfDs) to reduce CAPEX risk and support first‑of‑a‑kind projects.
  • Stable regulatory framework: providing long‑term certainty for companies planning multi‑decade investments, so business cases for electrified heat are not undermined by sudden policy reversals.

Nicolás González Casares stressed that ETS revenues should be used to support transformation and innovation, not short‑term bill relief, and defended a robust ETS as the backbone of Europe’s decarbonisation pathway.

  1. Scaling requires a systems approach: integration, flexibility and trust

The panel agreed that scaling electrified heat is about more than replacing burners with electric devices. It requires:

  • Integration with heat recovery, insulation and, where appropriate, hybrid systems combining different technologies.
  • New sensors, modelling and digital twins to maintain quality under harsh industrial conditions and coordinate production with renewable availability and market prices.
  • Virtual power plant and energy management concepts to align industrial demand with a cleaner, more flexible electricity system.
  • Clear safety standards, skills development and evidence of economic feasibility to build trust among conservative industrial sectors.

Overall, the policy panel sent a clear message: Europe already has working pilot solutions for electrified industrial heat; what is needed now is a coherent mix of policy, price signals and industrial partnerships that make clean heat the default, lowest‑cost choice for energy‑intensive industries in the coming decade.

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New Filtration Model by SteamDry Partners Boosts Superheated Steam Drying

A new open‑access paper from partners in the SteamDry project presents a dynamic model for filtration of dusty superheated steam, directly supporting the move toward more energy‑efficient paper drying. The study focuses on how dust fouling develops in a dead‑end filter and how this fouling increases pressure drop over time in a closed‑loop superheated steam drying (SSD) system.

The work, titled “Dynamic modeling of fouling development during dead‑end filtration of dusty superheated steam,” was published in Systems & Control Transactions and presented at ESCAPE 36 in Sheffield in June 2026. It offers a compact, physics‑based model that can be used for parameter identification, prediction, and eventually optimization and control of SteamDry lines.

Who Is Behind the Study?

The paper is authored by Felipe de Oliveira, Wijtze Nijhuis, and Edwin Zondervan from the University of Twente (Department of Chemical Engineering), together with Marcel Meinders from Wageningen University & Research (Department of Food Technology).

Within the SteamDry project, these groups play complementary roles:

  • The University of Twente team leads process modeling, dynamic simulation, and control concepts for superheated steam drying and related unit operations. Their work focuses on creating models that are simple enough for plant‑wide use, but rich enough to capture key physics such as fouling dynamics and pressure‑drop behavior.
  • The Wageningen University & Research team contributes deep expertise in food and biomass processing, particle behavior, and experimental methods, helping to design realistic test conditions and interpret fouling phenomena in terms of cake structure and dust properties.

Together, they provide the modeling and experimental backbone that SteamDry needs to develop robust, validated digital tools for SSD design and operation.

What the Filtration Model Does

The authors develop a “parsimonious” dynamic model for dead‑end filtration of dusty superheated steam containing paper‑like dust. The model is built on Darcy’s law and represents the total resistance as the sum of two parts:

  • A constant intrinsic filter resistance.
  • A time‑dependent cake resistance that grows as dust accumulates on the filter surface.

Cake thickness is linked directly to the deposited dust mass, effective filter area, and cake density, so that, over time, higher dust loading translates into higher pressure drop. Key parameters, such as filter resistance and specific cake resistance, are obtained from experiments, while gas properties are calculated using thermophysical correlations.

From Experiments to Predictive Power

To calibrate and validate the model, the team built a dedicated superheated steam filtration setup. Dust‑laden steam is produced, routed through a PTFE filter mounted in an oven, and monitored for temperature and pressure drop; total deposited mass is determined by weighing the filter before and after each run.

When the dust dosing rate is assumed to be constant, the model captures the overall trend in pressure drop but shows only limited agreement with experimental data in the dust filtration stage (R² ≈ 0.24). By inverting the problem and estimating the time‑varying dust load that best matches the measured pressure drop, the authors improve the fit dramatically to R² ≈ 0.94, revealing how strongly pressure‑drop predictions depend on realistic solid‑loading profiles.

Why This Matters for the SteamDry Project

For SteamDry, this dynamic filtration model is an important step toward fully model‑based design and operation of superheated steam drying systems for paper and board. It can be:

  • Extended to a wider range of temperatures, flows, and dust levels, with statistical analysis of fitted parameters to capture variability.
  • Coupled with filter‑cleaning models to simulate long‑term cyclic operation and evaluate cleaning strategies.
  • Integrated into dynamic optimization and control frameworks that keep pressure drop, energy use, and cleanliness in balance under realistic disturbances.
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SteamDry consortium meeting in Pont Évêque: advancing SSD pilots, retrofits and scenarios

SteamDry partners will gather in Pont‑Évêque, France, on 1–2 July 2026 for the next consortium meeting hosted by Ahlstrom, combining technical updates, collaborative discussions and site visits. The programme will cover the latest developments on superheated steam drying (SSD) piloting, process optimisation, retrofit options and project management, alongside a workshop titled “Linking flexibility and SSD – Conceptualization of system design and scenarios.”

Two days of technical progress

The meeting opens on 1 July with a full technical session including management updates from Work Packages 1 and 2, which are led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and ensure overall project management, administration and coordination in line with the Grant Agreement. These management activities underpin the smooth execution of all technical work and the achievement of SteamDry’s objectives.

Technical presentations will then address key process topics. Work Package 6, led by Wageningen Research, focuses on preventing fibres and air from entering the closed superheated steam loop by combining advanced modelling with experimental work to improve dryer design. Work Package 9, coordinated by VTT, covers piloting of the SSD process in modified pilot dryers, providing essential data on performance, safety and scale‑up needs.

A dedicated session on trial plan review and optimisation for paper, tissue and nonwovens will help align upcoming pilot activities across the consortium and make the best use of the pilot facilities. In the afternoon, partners will hear from Work Package 7, led by the University of Twente, which develops methods and models to remove fibres and air from the loop and maintain steam quality, and from Work Package 8, coordinated by VDEh‑Betriebsforschungsinstitut (BFI), which integrates novel digital technologies, including digital twins, data management and cross‑process automation to maximise energy savings.

The day will also touch on Work Package 5, led by the Austrian Institute of Technology, which refines SSD process requirements for efficient superheating, optimising heat recovery and providing tools that help industry assess the potential of SSD. After the technical sessions, participants will visit the Ahlstrom Innovation Center, followed by an evening networking dinner in Pont‑Évêque to encourage informal exchange.

Flexibility, assessment and system design

On 2 July, the programme continues with Work Package 10, led by the University of Santiago de Compostela, which carries out the environmental and techno‑economic assessment of SSD. This work combines life‑cycle assessment (LCA) and techno‑economic analysis (TEA), and also looks at the flexibility of SSD in different electricity markets, providing a comprehensive view of environmental impact, costs and operational performance.

As part of this work package, the workshop “Linking flexibility and SSD – Conceptualization of system design and scenarios” (Task 4) will outline relevant system concepts and operating scenarios for SSD. The aim is to link flexibility needs with system design choices and provide well‑defined scenarios that can be used in the project’s assessments and future planning.

This workshop is one element within a wider agenda that also includes the development of business cases, up‑scaling strategies and retrofit opportunities. Presentations from Work Package 12, led by Metsä Group, will evaluate business cases for product manufacturers and technology suppliers, assessing deployment potential in the European Union in the short‑ to medium‑term. Work Package 11, coordinated by Valmet, will present the up‑scaling strategy of the developed solution, including market entry options, retrofit concepts and paths towards industrial‑scale implementation of SSD.

Retrofits, communication and site visit

A further session will explore retrofit opportunities for existing drying infrastructure, such as drying hoods, air‑impingement systems and through‑air drying (TAD) equipment, building on insights from the technical work packages and the up‑scaling strategy. This discussion links closely to earlier work in Work Package 3, led by VTT, which defines the transition pathway towards energy‑efficient drying and develops a vision for shifting current dryers to SSD, and Work Package 4, coordinated by the Austrian Institute of Technology, which designs a green drying process that moves away from fossil energy sources through efficient superheated steam concepts.

The meeting will also address communication, dissemination, intellectual property (IP) and exploitation activities under Work Packages 13 and 14, led by FEUGA. These packages ensure that SteamDry builds a strong project identity, shares results effectively with stakeholders, manages IP and prepares exploitation routes so that project outcomes can be transferred and used beyond the consortium.

A visit to Ahlstrom’s La Gère plant will give partners the opportunity to see industrial operations on site and reflect on how SSD might be integrated into real production environments, complementing the piloting and transition pathway work. The consortium will then hold a General Assembly meeting to review progress across all work packages and confirm next steps, before closing the two‑day event.

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Drying Tops EU Energy Agenda: What Eurostat’s 2024 Data Means for the SteamDry Project

In May 2026, Eurostat released updated figures on final energy consumption in EU industry, and the message is clear: energy‑intensive sectors like pulp and paper remain central to Europe’s decarbonisation challenge, and opportunity. For the SteamDry project, which targets drastic energy cuts in paper and board drying, these new data strongly confirm that focusing on drying is the right lever at the right time.

Industry’s energy footprint in the EU

In 2024, industry accounted for 23.9% of the EU’s final energy consumption, making it the third‑largest energy user after transport and households. Electricity and natural gas together covered almost two‑thirds of industrial final energy demand (33.3% and 31.9% respectively), while fossil fuels in various forms still represented roughly half of the sector’s total energy use.

Over the past three decades, industrial energy consumption has decreased from 12 795 PJ in 1990 to 8 835 PJ in 2024, a reduction of around 30.9%, driven by efficiency gains and structural changes. At the same time, renewables and biofuels used in industry more than doubled in absolute terms, rising from 497 PJ to 999 PJ between 1990 and 2024, underlining a gradual but steady move towards cleaner energy sources.

Where pulp and paper stands

Eurostat’s disaggregated statistics show that a small group of sectors dominates industrial energy use: chemicals and petrochemicals, non‑metallic minerals, food, beverages and tobacco, paper, pulp and printing, and iron and steel. In 2024, the paper, pulp and printing industry consumed 997 PJ, equal to 12.1% of total final energy use in EU industry, placing it among the top five energy‑using sectors.

For a project like SteamDry, this confirms the strategic importance of focusing on paper and board drying, where relatively modest percentage gains can translate into large absolute energy and emissions reductions. It also aligns the project directly with EU policy attention on energy‑intensive, trade‑exposed industries under the Green Deal, Fit‑for‑55 and REPowerEU initiatives.

Drying: the key hotspot in papermaking

Within pulp and paper production, drying is the single most energy‑intensive process step, typically responsible for the majority of thermal energy demand on a paper machine. Conventional drying relies on large quantities of steam, often generated by burning fossil fuels or biomass, which links mills’ cost structure and carbon footprint directly to fuel and carbon prices.

By targeting the drying section, the SteamDry project is addressing the main energy hotspot in a typical paper mill. This process‑level focus matches the direction of Eurostat’s new industrial energy statistics, which provide more detailed breakdowns by sector and are designed to support precisely such targeted efficiency and fuel‑switching measures.

How SteamDry responds to the EU energy data

SteamDry develops and demonstrates superheated steam drying (SSD) for paper and board, with the goal of cutting energy use in drying by up to 60%, corresponding to around 40% savings across the whole production line. SSD uses a closed loop of superheated steam instead of hot air, enabling nearly complete recovery of latent heat and highly efficient reuse of energy within the process.

This approach directly supports the trends and needs highlighted by Eurostat’s statistics and EU policy:

  • It reduces dependence on natural gas and other fossil fuels for process heat by enabling a more electrified, steam‑based drying concept.
  • It improves overall energy efficiency at mill level, contributing to the long‑term downward trend in industrial energy use while allowing output to grow.
  • It facilitates integration with renewable electricity and advanced heat pumps, aligning with REPowerEU’s call to replace gas, oil and coal with clean energy in industrial processes.

In the long term, SteamDry estimates an energy savings potential of about 127 TWh per year in Europe, equivalent to roughly 6 billion euros in annual energy cost savings for paper and board manufacturers. On a global scale, the potential reaches approximately 870 TWh per year, underscoring the relevance of the technology far beyond the EU market.

A timely signal for mills and policymakers

Eurostat’s 2024 industrial energy data were extracted in May 2026, and the next planned article update is scheduled for May 2027. That timeline overlaps with the SteamDry project, which runs from January 2024 to June 2027 and aims to bring SSD from concept to pilot‑scale demonstration during this period.

If pulp and paper mills use this window to accelerate investment in next‑generation drying and heat‑recovery technologies, the 2027 update of “Final energy consumption in industry, detailed statistics” could be the first to show a visible change in the energy profile of the paper, pulp and printing sector. For the SteamDry consortium, this would be tangible evidence that superheated steam drying is helping turn high‑level EU energy statistics into real‑world progress on efficiency, competitiveness and climate neutrality.

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Electrification and advanced heat for energy intensive industries: from pilots to EU wide deployment

18 June 2026 (09:30–11:00 CEST) – Online (Microsoft Teams)

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This joint Sustainable Energy Day by SteamDry and METAWAVE is organised in the framework of EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) 2026, the main annual event of the European Union dedicated to renewables and energy efficiency. EUSEW provides a platform to present innovative projects, exchange best practices and build partnerships that support the EU’s energy and climate goals, including higher energy‑efficiency targets, accelerated renewables deployment and climate‑neutrality by 2050.

By focusing on the electrification of industrial heat in sectors such as paper and board, ceramics, asphalt and aluminium, the event contributes directly to these objectives. Electrified process‑heat solutions like superheated steam drying and microwave‑based high‑temperature processes can significantly reduce fossil fuel use, lower greenhouse‑gas emissions and improve energy efficiency in some of Europe’s most energy‑intensive value chains. At the same time, they help implement key EU strategies such as the Green Deal, REPowerEU and the Industrial Green Deal, which all call for faster decarbonisation of industry while preserving competitiveness and quality jobs.

The session is designed not only to showcase technical progress, but also to inform policy. Through a combination of data‑driven presentations, project pitches and an interactive policy panel with representatives from EU‑level initiatives, industry and the European Parliament, the event will identify barriers and enablers for scaling up electrified heat. The resulting messages aim to support EU and national decision‑makers in designing regulations, funding instruments and industrial strategies that accelerate the transition of energy‑intensive industries in line with Europe’s climate and energy targets.

Programme highlights

Welcome and opening remarks (09:30)
Policy keynote: why industrial heat electrification now (09:35)
  • Alper Akdag – Chair of A.SPIRE Working Group 1 (Energy and CO₂), setting the scene on the EU policy context, REPowerEU and support for energy‑intensive industries.
The challenge: energy use and CO₂ in energy‑intensive process industries (09:45)

Data‑driven overview of current energy use, fuel mix and emissions in the processes targeted by SteamDry and METAWAVE, and the potential impact of electrified solutions.

Project pitches: electrification solutions in practice (10:00)
  • METAWAVE – Microwave‑based high‑temperature processes for energy‑intensive sectors.
    María Herrando – METAWAVE project coordinator and senior researcher at ITA Instituto Tecnológico de Aragón.

Concise, policy‑oriented presentations on the technologies, their main industrial applications and the practical challenges to large‑scale deployment.

Interactive policy panel: what industry needs to scale electrified heat (10:20)

Moderated discussion on policy changes, instruments and regional initiatives needed to accelerate the deployment of electrified process heat, including audience questions and a short live poll.

 

This Sustainable Energy Day aims to feed concrete messages from industry and research into the wider EUSEW policy debate on how to support the transition of energy‑intensive industries while maintaining competitiveness.

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Steamdry at the 15th IEA Heat Pump Conference

Steamdry was pleased to participate in the 15th IEA Heat Pump Conference, where our partner AIT Austrian Institute of Technology presented a joint work on advanced heat recovery and drying technologies.

The presentation, titled “Heat recovery with steam compressor: Dynamic model of a superheated steam drying system to evaluate efficient system operation,” was delivered by Michael Pölzl (AIT) on Friday, May 29 in the Festsaal. It was part of the session “HTH11 + AIP2 Techno-Economic & Environmental Assessment of High Temperature Heat Pumps and Adaptation of Industrial Processes.”

This contribution, developed by AIT in collaboration with Piller Blowers & Compressors and Wageningen University & Research, focuses on superheated steam drying (SSD) as an innovative alternative to conventional drying processes in the pulp and paper industry.

SSD offers strong potential for improving energy efficiency, reducing emissions, and enhancing product quality. A key element of the system is the use of a steam compressor, which recovers latent heat from excess steam and upgrades it to the required temperature and pressure levels for reuse within the drying process.

To better understand and optimize this complex system, a dynamic model has been developed to simulate the transient behavior of the dryer, steam compressor, and auxiliary components such as heat exchangers and electrical heating. This model makes it possible to evaluate how different operating conditions—such as temperature levels and the presence of air in the steam cycle—affect overall system performance and efficiency.

The results demonstrate how such modeling tools can support the design and operation of superheated steam drying systems, enabling more efficient and reliable integration into industrial processes.

Through its partners, SteamDry is proud to contribute to the development of next-generation drying technologies and to support the transition toward more energy-efficient industrial solutions.

The presentation provided an opportunity to share the project’s latest developments with researchers, industry representatives, and other stakeholders working to advance sustainable and energy-efficient industrial processes.

About the event

The IEA Heat Pump Conference is one of the leading international events on heat pump technologies, bringing together industry, research, and policy to advance energy efficiency and decarbonization in heating and industrial processes.

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Introducing the SteamDry Pilot Plant Infographic

When we talk about decarbonising drying, it can be hard to picture what the future actually looks like on a real machine. That’s exactly why we created our new SteamDry Pilot Plant infographic.

The infographic walks you through how we’ve rebuilt the VTT SAMPO pilot machine into a fully fledged Superheated Steam Drying (SSD) line. It shows the complete journey: from how the wet web enters the first hood, to how closed-loop superheated steam dries the sheet, to how waste heat can be recovered and reused in the mill.

At a glance, you can see the key technical parameters:

  • Speed range from low trial speeds up to near-industrial levels
  • Web width suitable for realistic scale-up
  • A long dryer section with two SSD hoods in series
  • High-temperature steam and installed power enabling efficient drying
  • A very wide basis-weight window, from light grades to heavy structures

In parallel, the infographic highlights why SSD is such a strong candidate for low-carbon drying. By circulating and reheating steam in a closed loop, the system offers the potential for significant energy savings and a much higher drying rate than conventional hot-air systems. Because the exhaust is steam, its latent heat can be captured and reused, supporting more circular heat management at mill level.

You’ll also find a clear, step-by-step process flow: how the sheet enters, how the steam is superheated, how it circulates through the hoods, and how an optional IR section can be used for final moisture adjustment. For users of pilot facilities, this gives a concrete picture of what kind of trials are possible and how flexible the line really is.

The infographic also touches on the technical challenges that our team is addressing, such as sealing, steam purity, and thermal durability of fabrics and materials at high temperature. These are exactly the issues that need to be solved to pave the way for full-scale industrial implementations.

Finally, the infographic places the pilot plant in its wider innovation context, as part of a Horizon Europe–funded effort to develop energy-efficient, sustainable drying solutions for fiber-based materials across Europe.

If you’re interested in:

  • Exploring energy and heat-recovery scenarios, or
  • Investigating how superheated steam drying affects product quality,

we’d be happy to discuss what’s possible on the pilot plant.

You can view the full SteamDry Pilot Plant infographic below.

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Superheated Steam Drying: the next step in dryer retrofits

At SteamDry we are advancing Superheated Steam Drying (SSD) from concept development to full‑scale industrial retrofit solutions. The core objective is to increase installed drying capacity and reduce specific energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, while keeping the existing machine as far as possible.

Three SSD concepts assessed on an industrial board machine

Within the project, three SSD configurations have been evaluated on a representative European packaging board machine: convective SSD, conductive SSD and a combined convective‑conductive SSD concept. Each option has been benchmarked against key KPIs: energy savings at machine level, required investment and payback time, runnability and product quality, and the practical feasibility of retrofitting into existing multicylinder dryer sections.

Superheated Steam Drying: From Concepts to the First Retrofit

Why the combined SSD concept is the lead candidate for the first retrofit

The combined SSD concept (convective + conductive) emerges as the lead candidate for the first industrial retrofit. It delivers strong energy savings with acceptable payback, while maintaining robust web handling and product quality and limiting layout changes in the dryer section.

Technically, a high‑intensity convective SSD module with superheated steam impingement is installed at the dryer front end to boost evaporation rate, followed by a conductive cylinder group operated in a steam‑rich environment that reuses part of the exhaust steam. This configuration enables reuse of existing dryer cylinders, reduces total capex compared to a full conductive SSD rebuild, and provides a more attractive retrofit pathway.

Enabling a realistic decarbonisation trajectory

By targeting retrofit‑friendly configurations instead of greenfield installations only, the combined SSD concept supports mill decarbonisation within realistic shutdown windows and investment cycles. Building on established impingement drying experience, the concept lowers technical risk, facilitates scale‑up from pilot to industrial scale, and shortens time to market.

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Industrial Accelerator Act: A boost for low carbon, ‘Made in Europe’ process industries

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.

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World Energy Efficiency Day: How SteamDry cuts the hidden Energy of Industrial Drying

Every year on 5 March, World Energy Efficiency Day reminds us that the cleanest and cheapest energy is the energy we do not need to use. For SteamDry, this is a perfect moment to focus on one of industry’s “blind spots” for energy consumption: the drying of continuous web‑like materials such as paper, nonwovens and wood‑based products.​

What is celebrated on 5 March?

World Energy Efficiency Day has been marked since 1998, following an international meeting on rational energy use held in Austria, where 5 March was proposed as a global awareness date. Since then, it has been used to promote policies, technologies and behaviour changes that allow us to do the same (or more) with less energy, cutting costs and emissions without sacrificing quality of life or industrial competitiveness.

A global challenge: producing more with less energy

Worldwide, electricity demand continues to rise as we electrify transport, industry and digital services. Energy efficiency is the “first fuel” that helps curb this growth: in decarbonisation scenarios, efficiency improvements deliver a major share of the reduction in energy use and emissions, especially in energy‑intensive sectors like pulp and paper, chemicals and steel.

In Europe, the manufacturing of paper and paper products consumes hundreds of petajoules per year and relies heavily on heat for processes such as drying. That makes efficiency in drying a key lever for meeting climate targets while keeping the European industry competitive.​​

Drying: the big hidden consumer

Drying processes for web‑like materials are responsible for a very large share of thermal energy use in several industries. The SteamDry vision roadmap estimates annual drying energy demand in Europe at approximately:​

  • ~400 PJ per year in paper and board.
  • 1.4–2.2 PJ in wetlaid nonwovens.
  • 70–140 PJ in wood materials (panels, veneer, etc.).​

In many paper and board mills, drying alone accounts for more than 60% of total process heat demand. Conventional technologies – steam‑heated cylinder dryers, hot‑air impingement, through‑air (TAD) and infrared – typically use around 1,070–1,800 kWh of heat per tonne of paper in the drying section, often supplied by fossil‑fired boilers or direct gas‑fired air heaters.​

What SteamDry brings to energy efficiency

SteamDry (“Superheated steam drying for sustainable and recyclable web‑like materials”) is a Horizon Europe project (GA 101137906) designed to rethink how paper, nonwovens and certain wood products are dried. Its objectives include:​

  • Developing a high‑efficiency drying technology.
  • Achieving a CO₂‑emission‑free drying process.
  • Piloting superheated steam drying (SSD) for representative products.
  • Implementing advanced (AI‑supported) control systems and digitalisation.
  • Assessing environmental, techno‑economic and business impacts.​

The core is superheated steam drying (SSD), which replaces hot air in the dryer hood with circulating superheated steam in a closed loop. Steam is heated above its boiling point, passes through the dryer and mixes with the vapour coming from the product; part of this steam is then condensed to recover useful high‑temperature heat for other process steps, while the rest is reheated and reused. This allows SteamDry to:​

  • Improve heat transfer and reduce net energy consumption.
  • Minimise stack losses and recover high‑grade heat.
  • Eliminate direct combustion emissions in drying when energy input is electric and low‑carbon.​

How much can be saved?

Modelling work in SteamDry shows that for conductive cylinder dryers, combining SSD with advanced heat recovery, high‑temperature heat pumps and steam compression can reduce thermal energy demand by more than 50% compared with a reference case without heat integration. For impingement and TAD dryers, superheated steam enables optimisation of steam temperature, mass flow and heat recovery to balance efficiency, dryer compactness and integration with the plant’s overall energy system.​

Given that drying in paper and board alone accounts for around 400 PJ per year in Europe, out of roughly 650 PJ used in total for paper and paper products, the system‑level savings potential is very large. Additional savings are possible in nonwovens and wood‑based panels, where drying can represent up to 70% of process energy and specific heat demands between 0.8 and 2.7 MWh per tonne of product.​

A roadmap for the coming decade

The SteamDry roadmap describes a path from 2024 onwards, moving through laboratory, pilot, demo and flagship phases. During the project, partners develop critical elements such as leakage‑free sealing, steam purification, mechanical vapour compression, heat‑integration concepts and advanced control systems, both for rebuilds and new machines. Beyond the current project, the vision foresees larger demonstration lines and the first commercial‑scale retrofits towards the end of this decade.​