High-Level Stakeholder Forum “Waste heat recovery: a game changer for energy-efficient buildings and industries”
Capturing and reusing excess heat — on-site or through heating and cooling networks — is essential to replace fossil fuels in buildings and industry, strengthen ties between cities and industry, and accelerate decarbonisation while easing pressure on the power grid.
Europe generates 2,860 TWh of excess heat each year, enough to cover most building and hot-water demand. Yet despite this massive potential, projects remain scarce. At the 10th Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency (Brussels, June 2025), the European Commission announced new measures to unlock up to 11% of EU heat demand through waste heat recovery, including a Data Centre Energy Efficiency Package and targeted actions in the forthcoming Heating and Cooling Strategy.
With technology already available, the main obstacles are administrative, commercial, and organisational. How do we foster collaboration across sectors and levels of governance so that waste heat recovery becomes a mainstream solution?
This forum, co-hosted by EPH and the Energy Efficiency Movement (EEM), brings together industries, data centres, utilities, cities, investors, and solution providers to identify concrete ways forward.
The event will:
- Create a shared understanding of the barriers slowing deployment.
- Build trust and momentum across sectors.
- Strengthen public–private partnerships.
- Share business knowledge and solutions for robust heating and cooling strategies.
The goal: stronger alignment, clearer collaboration pathways, and renewed momentum to unlock Europe’s vast waste heat potential.
