Interview: Practitioners on Industrial heat & high-temp electrification — what they wish they knew earlier

Industrial heat accounts for roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet fewer than 5% of high-temperature industrial processes above 400 degrees Celsius currently use electricity as their primary energy source (International Energy Agency, 2025). The steel, cement, glass, and ceramics sectors collectively consume over 20 exajoules of thermal energy annually, with natural gas, coal, and petroleum coke supplying the vast majority. For engineers operating in emerging markets where energy infrastructure constraints add additional complexity, the transition from fossil-fired furnaces and kilns to electric alternatives involves technical, financial, and operational challenges that rarely appear in equipment brochures or vendor demonstrations. Seven practitioners across steel, cement, glass, and chemicals shared the lessons they learned the hard way when deploying high-temperature electrification in facilities across India, Brazil, South Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Why It Matters

Industrial processes requiring temperatures above 400 degrees Celsius represent the most difficult segment of the global heat demand to decarbonize. Steel production alone accounts for approximately 7% of global CO2 emissions, while cement manufacturing contributes another 8% (Global Cement and Concrete Association, 2025). In emerging markets, these sectors are expanding rapidly to meet urbanization and infrastructure demands: India's steel production capacity is projected to grow from 160 million tonnes per year in 2025 to 300 million tonnes by 2030 under the National Steel Policy, and Southeast Asian cement demand is forecast to increase by 25% over the same period.

The cost dynamics are shifting. Industrial electricity prices in India fell to $0.04 to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour for renewable power purchase agreements in 2025, while natural gas prices in South and Southeast Asia remained volatile between $8 and $14 per million BTU. Electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking now achieves operating cost parity with blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) routes in markets where electricity costs stay below $0.05 per kilowatt-hour and scrap steel availability is sufficient (World Steel Association, 2025). For engineers tasked with specifying and commissioning new high-temperature equipment, the technology choice made today locks in the emissions profile and energy cost structure for 20 to 40 years.

Key Concepts

Several foundational elements underpin the high-temperature electrification transition in industrial settings.

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF): A steelmaking furnace that uses electric arcs between graphite electrodes and the metal charge to generate temperatures exceeding 1,600 degrees Celsius. EAFs currently produce approximately 30% of global steel output, primarily from scrap feedstock, and represent the most commercially mature high-temperature electrification pathway.

Resistance Heating: Direct conversion of electricity to heat through resistive elements, applicable at temperatures up to approximately 1,800 degrees Celsius depending on element material (silicon carbide, molybdenum disilicide, or tungsten). Resistance heating achieves thermal efficiencies of 95 to 99%, compared to 40 to 60% for gas-fired systems.

Plasma Torches: Devices that create an electrically generated plasma arc reaching temperatures of 5,000 to 20,000 degrees Celsius, used for melting refractory materials, hazardous waste vitrification, and emerging applications in ironmaking with hydrogen-plasma reduction.

Industrial Heat Pump: A system that uses electricity to upgrade low-temperature waste heat to process-grade temperatures, currently limited to approximately 150 to 200 degrees Celsius for commercially available models, with prototype systems reaching 250 degrees Celsius.

Green Hydrogen Direct Reduced Iron (DRI): A steelmaking process using hydrogen instead of coal or natural gas as the reducing agent to convert iron ore into metallic iron. The DRI is then melted in an EAF, creating a fully electrified steel production pathway when powered by renewable electricity.

What's Working

Practitioners identified several approaches delivering measurable results in emerging market deployments.

Electric arc furnace conversions in secondary steelmaking are achieving cost parity faster than projected in markets with abundant scrap supply. Tata Steel's Jamshedpur facility in India commissioned a 150-tonne EAF in 2024 that processes locally sourced scrap at an energy cost 22% below its existing gas-fired induction furnaces, driven by a captive solar power purchase agreement at $0.038 per kilowatt-hour. The facility reduced Scope 1 emissions by 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 per year. Engineers who worked on the project emphasized that securing a reliable, cost-competitive electricity supply through dedicated renewable PPAs before specifying the furnace was essential: "The furnace selection was straightforward. The energy procurement took 18 months of negotiation."

Resistance heating retrofits for glass manufacturing are proving technically viable at commercial scale. Sisecam, the Turkish glass manufacturer with operations across emerging markets, converted a flat glass furnace at its facility in Mersin to a hybrid configuration using electric boosting for 40% of thermal input in 2024. The modification reduced natural gas consumption by 38% and improved temperature uniformity across the melt pool, resulting in a 12% reduction in glass defect rates. The total retrofit cost was $8.5 million for a furnace with 600 tonnes per day capacity, with payback projected at 4.2 years at current gas and electricity prices (Sisecam, 2025).

Modular electric kiln designs are addressing the infrastructure constraints unique to emerging markets. LEILAC (Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement) technology, developed by Calix and now being deployed by HeidelbergCement in a pilot at a facility in Hanover, separates CO2 emissions from the calcination process using indirect electric heating. The modular design allows deployment alongside existing kiln lines without full plant shutdowns. A practitioner involved in the engineering noted that the modular approach was critical for emerging market adoption: "You cannot shut down a cement plant in India or Vietnam for 12 months to install a new kiln. Modular bolt-on systems that run in parallel during commissioning are the only path that plant managers will accept."

Waste heat recovery paired with industrial heat pumps is unlocking efficiency gains in the sub-200 degree Celsius temperature range. A chemicals facility operated by Reliance Industries in Gujarat, India, installed a 5-megawatt heat pump system from MAN Energy Solutions in 2025 that captures waste heat from cooling water at 60 degrees Celsius and delivers process steam at 160 degrees Celsius. The system displaced 4,200 tonnes of natural gas per year and achieved payback in 2.8 years, with the additional benefit of reducing cooling water discharge and associated thermal pollution.

What's Not Working

Practitioners were equally frank about persistent obstacles and outright failures.

Grid reliability in emerging markets remains the single largest barrier to high-temperature electrification. A glass manufacturer in Maharashtra, India, reported that voltage fluctuations and unplanned outages caused three thermal shock events in its electrically boosted furnace during the first year of operation, each resulting in partial refractory damage costing $200,000 to $400,000 per incident. The facility now maintains diesel backup generators capable of sustaining minimum melt temperature during grid disruptions, adding $1.2 million in capital costs and partially offsetting the emissions benefits. Engineers stressed that power quality specifications for high-temperature electric equipment are far more demanding than for conventional industrial motors or lighting.

Green hydrogen for DRI steelmaking remains prohibitively expensive in most emerging markets. While HYBRIT (a joint venture of SSAB, LKAB, and Vattenfall) demonstrated hydrogen-based DRI production in Sweden, replicating this in emerging markets faces fundamental cost barriers. Green hydrogen production costs in India ranged from $3.50 to $5.50 per kilogram in 2025, versus a target of $1.00 to $1.50 per kilogram needed for cost parity with coal-based steelmaking (India Hydrogen Alliance, 2025). A practitioner in Brazil noted: "Everyone talks about green hydrogen steel as if it is two years away. In emerging markets with current electrolyzer costs and electricity prices, it is closer to eight or ten years for large-scale deployment."

Electrode and refractory material supply chains are creating unexpected bottlenecks. Graphite electrode prices, which are critical for EAF operations, surged 40% between mid-2024 and early 2026 due to Chinese export restrictions and increased global EAF capacity buildout. Several practitioners reported that electrode procurement lead times extended from 8 weeks to 20 weeks, forcing production schedule adjustments. Specialized refractory linings for electric kilns and furnaces have fewer qualified suppliers than conventional gas-fired refractories, and practitioners in Southeast Asia reported delivery delays of 4 to 6 months for custom refractory shapes rated above 1,600 degrees Celsius.

Workforce skill gaps are slowing deployment timelines. Operating an EAF or electrically heated kiln requires different competencies than operating gas-fired equipment, including electrical safety at high voltage, power quality monitoring, electrode management, and digital process control. A steel plant engineer in South Africa reported that retraining a furnace operations crew of 24 people took 9 months of classroom and on-the-job training before they reached the productivity levels of experienced gas furnace operators. Training programs from equipment vendors are typically designed for European or North American contexts and require significant adaptation for emerging market workforce conditions.

Key Players

Established Companies

• Tenova: Italian industrial technology company supplying EAF systems, with over 200 electric arc furnaces installed globally including major projects in India and Brazil
• ABB: Swiss-Swedish engineering firm providing power supply systems, electrode control, and automation for high-temperature electric processes
• Siemens Energy: Supplies industrial electric heating systems, high-voltage transformers, and grid connection solutions for large-scale electrification projects
• HeidelbergCement: Global cement producer piloting LEILAC electric calcination technology and targeting 10 million tonnes of CO2 reduction by 2030
• Saint-Gobain: French glass and construction materials manufacturer deploying hybrid electric-gas furnaces across facilities in India, Brazil, and Southeast Asia

Startups and Innovators

• Calix: Australian technology company developing the LEILAC indirect calcination process for cement and lime, enabling electrification of the calcination step
• Boston Metal: Produces steel and metals through molten oxide electrolysis, eliminating carbon-based reduction agents entirely, with pilot operations since 2024
• Electra: Develops low-temperature iron electrowinning technology that produces pure iron at 60 degrees Celsius using electricity, bypassing traditional blast furnace temperatures
• Sublime Systems: Produces low-carbon cement using an electrochemical process that operates at ambient temperature, eliminating kiln-based calcination

Investors and Funders

• Breakthrough Energy Ventures: Climate fund with investments in Boston Metal, Sublime Systems, and other industrial decarbonization startups
• World Bank Group: Financing industrial energy efficiency and electrification projects across emerging markets through the International Finance Corporation
• Green Climate Fund: Supporting industrial decarbonization pilot projects in developing countries including a $150 million allocation for industrial heat transition programs

Action Checklist

• Conduct a thermal energy audit of all processes above 150 degrees Celsius to identify electrification candidates ranked by technical feasibility and emissions impact
• Assess local grid reliability including voltage stability, frequency regulation, and planned outage schedules before specifying electric heating equipment
• Negotiate dedicated renewable power purchase agreements with firm delivery guarantees before committing to electrification capital expenditure
• Specify backup power systems capable of maintaining minimum process temperatures during grid disruptions to protect refractory and product quality
• Evaluate hybrid configurations that allow phased transition from gas to electric heating, reducing capital risk and enabling learning-by-doing
• Map electrode, refractory, and specialty materials supply chains and establish secondary supplier relationships to mitigate procurement delays
• Develop a workforce retraining plan with timeline of 6 to 12 months before commissioning new electric heating equipment
• Engage with equipment vendors on emerging market-specific design modifications including power quality tolerance, ambient temperature ratings, and dust protection

FAQ

Q: At what electricity price does high-temperature electrification become cost-competitive with natural gas? A: The crossover point depends on the specific process and local gas prices, but as a general benchmark, electricity below $0.05 per kilowatt-hour makes EAF steelmaking competitive with gas-based DRI in most emerging markets. For resistance-heated glass furnaces, the threshold is approximately $0.04 to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour when accounting for the higher thermal efficiency of electric heating (95%+ versus 45 to 55% for gas). Industrial heat pumps for sub-200 degree Celsius applications can be cost-competitive at electricity prices up to $0.08 per kilowatt-hour due to their coefficient of performance multiplying effective energy delivery by a factor of 3 to 5.

Q: How should engineers evaluate grid readiness for high-temperature electrification in emerging markets? A: Request 12 months of historical power quality data from the local utility including voltage sag/swell frequency, harmonic distortion levels, and unplanned outage duration and frequency. For processes above 1,000 degrees Celsius, voltage fluctuations exceeding plus or minus 5% can cause refractory thermal stress and product quality issues. Evaluate whether the local grid connection point can support the peak electrical demand of the proposed equipment, including transformer capacity and fault current levels. In many emerging market industrial zones, grid reinforcement costs of $500,000 to $3 million may be required before high-power electric heating systems can be connected.

Q: What is the realistic timeline for green hydrogen DRI steelmaking in emerging markets? A: Commercial-scale deployment of green hydrogen DRI in emerging markets is realistically 2032 to 2036 based on current cost trajectories. Electrolyzer costs need to fall from $600 to $900 per kilowatt installed capacity in 2025 to below $250 per kilowatt, and green hydrogen production costs need to reach $1.50 to $2.00 per kilogram. India's National Green Hydrogen Mission targets 5 million tonnes per year of green hydrogen production by 2030, but steel sector applications will compete with refining, ammonia, and methanol for limited supply. Engineers should design new facilities to be hydrogen-ready by including DRI shaft furnace specifications and hydrogen storage provisions even if initial operations use natural gas.

Q: Can electric heating systems handle the thermal cycling demands of batch industrial processes? A: Yes, with appropriate design considerations. Resistance heating elements rated for cycling duty use materials such as molybdenum disilicide or iron-chromium-aluminum alloys that tolerate repeated heating and cooling without premature failure. However, refractory linings in electrically heated kilns may require different thermal expansion characteristics than those used in continuously fired gas kilns. Practitioners report that refractory life in batch electric kilns ranges from 3 to 5 years versus 5 to 8 years in continuous gas kilns, increasing maintenance costs by 10 to 20%. Specifying refractories designed specifically for electric heating duty rather than repurposing gas kiln refractories eliminates most of this differential.

Sources

• International Energy Agency. (2025). World Energy Outlook 2025: Industrial Heat Decarbonization Pathways. Paris: IEA.
• World Steel Association. (2025). Steel Statistical Yearbook 2025 and Electric Arc Furnace Technology Review. Brussels: World Steel Association.
• Global Cement and Concrete Association. (2025). Cement Industry Net Zero Roadmap: Progress Report 2025. London: GCCA.
• India Hydrogen Alliance. (2025). India Green Hydrogen Cost Tracker and Industrial Applications Assessment. New Delhi: IH2A.
• Sisecam. (2025). Sustainability Report 2024: Glass Manufacturing Electrification and Emissions Reduction. Istanbul: Sisecam Group.
• DNV. (2025). Technology Outlook 2030: Industrial Decarbonization in Emerging Markets. Hovik, Norway: DNV AS.
• Calix Limited. (2025). LEILAC Technology: Progress Update on Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement. Sydney: Calix Limited.