Waste Heat Recovery Investment 2026 Grant
Agence de la transition écologique (ADEME)
In context
This call is open to large companies, small and medium-sized businesses and engineering and construction contractors, at scale-up and mature. Funding is a grant. Coverage is read from the notice itself: France.
ADEME offers case-by-case financial aid for industrial waste heat recovery installations, including heat capture, temperature upgrading, storage, and distribution, for projects that recover more than 1 GWh/year of thermal energy. It targets industrial and other organisations that already have a feasibility study and want to invest in implementation.
About this grant
The ADEME Fonds Chaleur subsidises installations that recover waste heat (chaleur fatale) from industrial and other processes, so that heat which would otherwise be lost can be reused. The aid is aimed at reducing non-renewable heat consumption and improving the energy and environmental performance of industrial sites, and the page presents it as a route to more predictable heat costs, proven high-efficiency technologies and shorter payback than many renewable energy projects. Eligible scope covers heat capture on a process (such as distillation columns, dryers, furnaces and boilers), temperature uplift through heat pumps, cooling production systems (absorption units or heat pump thermofrigopumps), and the transport, distribution and valorisation of recovered heat, whether used internally through an internal water loop or externally through a network to a neighbouring industrial site or a district heating network. Where heat is injected into a district heating network with network creation or extension, the conditions for heating and cooling networks also apply. Technical conditions include recovered heat greater than 1 GWh per year in metropolitan France, a minimum energy and environmental performance threshold, and a gross payback period above 3 years. Applicants must have completed a prior study, such as an energy audit or an energy mix evolution study followed by a feasibility study, confirming the project fits the site's or company's decarbonisation roadmap. Since 2020, ADEME aid is coordinated with the Energy Savings Certificates (CEE) scheme. The aid is available for the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 and is described as in progress. Awards are granted mainly through ADEME regional directorates, and prior contact is recommended. Applications are filed on the Agir platform, which requires an account.
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Eligibility
The aid is open to businesses, associations and local authorities (collectivités / administrations). Projects must be located in metropolitan France, recover more than 1 GWh of heat per year, meet a minimum energy and environmental performance threshold, and show a gross payback period above 3 years. A prior energy audit or energy mix evolution study followed by a feasibility study is required. Applicants must file through the Agir platform with an account, and prior contact with the regional ADEME office is advised. The page lists all regions as covered.
How it's scored
The page does not describe a scoring system, weightings or panel composition. Eligibility is assessed against the technical conditions (heat quantity, performance threshold, payback period) and alignment with the site's decarbonisation roadmap, with detailed conditions set out in a separate PDF document that was not included in the page text.
Key requirements
- ✓Project must recover and valorise more than 1 GWh/year of thermal energy
- ✓Applicant should already hold a feasibility study for the waste heat recovery installation
- ✓Eligible investments include heat capture systems, temperature upgrading (heat pumps, MVR), cold production, storage, and heat transport/distribution
Frequently asked questions
- How much funding does Agence de la transition écologique (ADEME) offer?
- Waste Heat Recovery Investment offers Aide calculée au cas par cas.
- When is the Waste Heat Recovery Investment deadline?
- Applications close 31 Dec 2026.
- Who can apply for Waste Heat Recovery Investment?
- Eligibility covers organisations in FR; large-company, sme, engineering-contractor. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.
Relevant sectors
How this compares
- Compared with 18 similar grants (industry decarb in France) listed in the last 12 months.
- Similar grants that state a value range from $9k to $11m, with a median of $1.9m (5 grants).
- The same organisation listed 7 other similar grants here in the last 12 months.
Closest open grants
Figures are computed from notices listed on Raise Lens in the same sector and country over the last 12 months.
About this sector
Industrial decarbonisation funding helps heavy industry cut emissions through electrification, fuel switching, process change and efficiency. Support is often capital-intensive and tied to a specific site, with feasibility studies leading to larger deployment calls. Applicants need emissions baselines, engineering studies and a plan to keep production running during the change.
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