Every electrolyser produces large amounts of low‑temperature heat; if this is recovered and fed into district heating or nearby industry, it replaces fossil fuels and improves overall system efficiency. The report argues that policy and regulation should therefore never look at hydrogen without also asking what happens to the heat it generates. Legal frameworks need to support both technologies in parallel: faster permitting for electrolysers and hydrogen infrastructure, clear definitions of renewable and low‑carbon hydrogen, and concrete rules for how waste heat can be mapped, valued and connected to heat networks.
National chapters for Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Italy translate this logic into concrete, time‑phased measures for “now”, 2030 and 2040. Across countries, common short‑term priorities include speeding up permitting for electrolysers and hydrogen infrastructure, clarifying definitions of renewable and low‑carbon hydrogen, and reducing regulatory fragmentation across energy, transport, industrial and construction legislation. Many partners call for one‑stop shops, statutory permitting deadlines and simplified procedures or exemptions for low‑impact projects, in order to reduce investor uncertainty and shorten project lead times. At the same time, several countries stress the urgent need to establish guarantees of origin and RFNBO‑compatible certification schemes that ensure traceability and market transparency.
Looking toward 2030, the national recommendations converge on three main hydrogen priorities:
(1) scaling electrolyser capacity with realistic sector‑specific targets;
(2) building first‑generation hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure, often by repurposing existing gas networks and integrating into the emerging European Hydrogen Backbone; and
(3) creating demand in hard‑to‑abate sectors like steel, chemicals, and heavy transport through targeted incentives and public procurement.
Countries such as Croatia, Hungary and Italy emphasise regional hydrogen hubs, hydrogen valleys and industrial clusters where production and consumption are co‑located, while Poland and Slovenia focus strongly on aligning hydrogen strategies with wider decarbonisation and network planning documents. By 2040, the vision is a mature hydrogen economy with stable market rules, clear pricing signals, integrated cross‑border infrastructure and hydrogen embedded as a core element of national and EU climate strategies.
On waste heat, the report identifies a striking gap between its technical potential and current policy frameworks. In many partner countries, waste heat is only weakly recognised in legislation, with no binding targets, limited mapping of sources and few standardised procedures for connecting waste heat to district heating networks. The recommendations call for a foundational step: legally recognise waste heat as an energy resource, define data‑sharing obligations for large emitters and data centres, and launch systematic national or regional mapping campaigns that quantify technical and economic potential, including temperature levels and proximity to consumers. This evidence base should feed into municipal heat planning, national energy and climate plans, and future revisions of heating and cooling strategies.
Economic instruments are another recurrent theme. The report proposes grants, tax incentives, feed‑in tariffs and tariff reforms to support investments in industrial heat recovery, modern low‑temperature district heating and hybrid solutions that combine waste heat with heat pumps and thermal storage. Some partners recommend mandating waste heat recovery for high‑output facilities where it is technically and economically feasible, or introducing “priority use” rules that require significant waste heat to be offered to district heating networks under regulated conditions. By 2040, the ambition is that industrial and urban waste heat will be fully valorised, with mature regulatory frameworks, standardised pricing, MRV systems and waste heat fully embedded in local and national energy strategies.
The complete set of recommendations for hydrogen and waste heat uptake is available in the full report here.