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Carbon Hub / European Steam Cost Index
Data index · Eurostat 2025-S2 + live EUA

European Steam Cost Index

The cost of one tonne of industrial steam across 33 European country rows, computed from official gas prices and the carbon price.

Sweden tops the current index at €95.5/t under the stated EUA scenario; Georgia is lowest at €33.5/t. This is a reproducible calculation, not a survey or a statement of site liability.

See the indexUse site assumptionsMethodology
33country rows
10 bar(g)default steam pressure
88%default boiler efficiency
Live EUAdated carbon-price feed

The index

Country averages give a benchmark; the calculator below adapts the same method to site assumptions.

Eurostat nrg_pc_203Saturated steamDownload CSV

Steam cost by country

Fuel-onlyIncl. CO₂CSV
CountryGas €/MWhSteam fuel €/tSteam + EUA scenario €/t1 kW loss €/yrData status
Sweden€106.5€82.2€95.5€726official 2025-S2
Liechtenstein€93.0€71.8€85.1€634official 2025-S2
Finland€86.3€66.6€79.9€588official 2025-S2
Germany€71.3€55.0€68.3€486official 2025-S2
Netherlands€67.4€52.0€65.3€460official 2025-S2
Ireland€66.7€51.5€64.8€455official 2025-S2
Luxembourg€65.7€50.7€64.0€448official 2025-S2
Poland€64.7€49.9€63.2€441official 2025-S2
Moldova€64.2€49.5€62.8€438official 2025-S2
Austria€64.1€49.5€62.8€437official 2025-S2
Slovakia€64.0€49.4€62.7€436official 2025-S2
Denmark€63.2€48.8€62.1€431official 2025-S2
France€62.9€48.5€61.8€429official 2025-S2
EU-27 average€60.5€46.7€60.0€412official 2025-S2
Slovenia€57.7€44.5€57.8€393official 2025-S2
Czechia€56.8€43.8€57.1€387official 2025-S2
Estonia€56.7€43.7€57.1€387official 2025-S2
Bosnia and Herzegovina€53.2€41.0€54.4€363official 2025-S2
Latvia€52.8€40.7€54.0€360official 2025-S2
Hungary€51.8€40.0€53.3€353official 2025-S2
Romania€51.4€39.7€53.0€350official 2025-S2
Italy€51.3€39.6€52.9€350official 2025-S2
Spain€50.8€39.2€52.5€346official 2025-S2
Lithuania€50.8€39.2€52.5€346official 2025-S2
Serbia2024-S2€50.8€39.2€52.5€346latest available (2024-S2)
Croatia€48.6€37.5€50.8€331official 2025-S2
Belgium€48.1€37.1€50.4€328official 2025-S2
Portugal€48.1€37.1€50.4€328official 2025-S2
North Macedonia€46.0€35.5€48.8€314official 2025-S2
Greece€42.4€32.7€46.0€289official 2025-S2
Bulgaria€41.4€31.9€45.2€282official 2025-S2
Türkiye€30.1€23.2€36.5€205official 2025-S2
Georgia€26.2€20.2€33.5€179official 2025-S2

The EUA scenario column uses the live allowance price where available, otherwise the dated build value. It is a comparison input, not a determination of legal liability. The CSV mirrors the visible index.

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Equipment heat loss

Measure exposed hot surfaces

Use measured surface area, temperature and operating hours to calculate heat loss from boilers, kilns, heat exchangers, valves and pipework. Inzonex supplies removable modular insulation for equipment that requires maintenance access.

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  • Claimed heat-loss reduction: up to 96%, subject to the measured boundary and insulation specification
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  • Calculation record available for the selected equipment and operating conditions
View modular insulationPrepare a heat-loss study

Do not add a calculated reduction to an emissions report until the reporting boundary, factor, implementation date and verification method have been approved.

Use your own site assumptions

Turn the public benchmark into a plant estimate by changing the assumptions engineers already know.

Scenario calculator

Change gas price, efficiency, hours, steam load and standing heat loss.

—fuel-only steam
—carbon component
€2,049,516.0annual steam cost
—annual heat-loss cost
—avoidable heat-loss cost
6,000 hoperating assumption

Calculation basis

Fuel €/t steam = (0.679 MWh/t ÷ η) × gas €/MWh
CO₂ €/t steam = (0.679 MWh/t ÷ η) × 0.202 tCO₂/MWh × EUA €/tCO₂
Annual steam cost = (fuel + CO₂) × steam t/h × hours/year
Heat-loss cost = heat-loss kW × hours/year × gas €/MWh ÷ η ÷ 1000
Default thermodynamic basis: saturated steam at 10 bar(g), feedwater 80 °C, 0.679 MWh/t enthalpy rise. Change pressure, feedwater temperature, efficiency or hours for a site estimate.

Workload modes

Start from the way a plant thinks about steam: tonnes of linen, brewhouse load, boiler output or operating hours.

Industrial laundry

Use boiler load or measured steam. Example below uses 5 t/h steam for 6,000 h/year.

30,000 tsteam/year
€2,049,516.0Germany example
Good inputt steam/h
Laundry heat-loss calculator

Brewery

Use brewhouse steam demand, packaging load or measured boiler output; avoid generic hL assumptions unless a site provides them.

1 kWcontinuous loss
€486/yGermany example
Good inputmeasured steam
Brewery calculator

Food plant

Works for bakery, dairy, meat and beverage plants when boiler capacity and operating hours are known.

8 kWhot-surface loss
€3,889.1/yGermany example
Good inputboiler t/h
Open heat-loss calculators

Methodology and source provenance

The source chain stays visible, so users can trace each number back to gas price, carbon price and steam assumptions.

Load official gas price rowsEurostat industrial gas prices, excluding VAT, release period shown per row.
Convert gas to steam costSteam-table enthalpy rise divided by stated boiler efficiency.
Add carbon where relevantFuel MWh × emission factor × EUA price; dated build value plus live enhancement.
Publish CSV and formulaThe visible table, downloadable CSV and calculator use the same calculation basis.

Source cards

Eurostat nrg_pc_203
Industrial natural gas price, excl. VAT
Official
EU ETS EUA feed
Dated carbon-price input: EUA €85.3/t, September 10, 2026
Live
Steam-table basis
10 bar(g), 80 °C feedwater example
Assumption
Inzonex calculation
Reproducible transformation, not a survey or site-liability assessment
Derived
Suggested citation: Inzonex Research, “European Steam Cost Index 2025-S2”, inzonex.co.uk/carbon/steam-cost-index/ (accessed 2026-09-11) — free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
FAQ

Questions

How much does steam cost per tonne?
In 2025 H2, producing one tonne of saturated steam from natural gas costs roughly €20–€82 in fuel across this index — for example €55/t in Germany — plus about €13/t of CO₂ cost for EU ETS installations at the current allowance price.
What is the formula for steam cost?
Steam cost in €/t = gas price in €/MWh × 0.77 MWh fuel per tonne (0.679 MWh of enthalpy at 88% boiler efficiency), plus the carbon component where applicable.
Why does steam cost differ between countries?
The main driver is the industrial gas price: Sweden is €106.5/MWh while Georgia is €26.2/MWh in the current dataset. The EUA scenario adds the same calculated carbon component per tonne at the stated efficiency; actual liability depends on the installation and scheme.
How often is this index updated?
Gas prices follow Eurostat's semi-annual releases. The CO₂ component uses the dated EUA value from the Carbon Hub feed and can be refreshed independently.
Is the CSV free to use?
Yes. Download the CSV and reuse it with attribution to inzonex.co.uk/carbon/steam-cost-index/. The table, CSV and calculator use the same calculation basis.
How this page is built: industrial gas prices from Eurostat nrg_pc_203 (band 10,000–99,999 GJ, excl. VAT) × steam-table enthalpy at the stated boiler efficiency; the comparison column applies the stated EUA price. Data periods are shown row by row. Generated on 2026-09-11. Published by Inzonex Research. Spotted an error? Tell us.

From benchmark to your site

Use this index to see where a tonne of steam — and each kilowatt of standing heat loss — costs most across Europe, then estimate the impact of reducing losses on boilers, steam lines, valves and hot equipment using your own site assumptions.

Open calculatorsInzonex Modular Insulation
Source: Inzonex Carbon Hub — inzonex.co.uk/carbon · prices dated as shown on each figure · schedule per Regulation (EU) 2023/956 · indicative analytics, not compliance advice.