Energy represents up to 20 % of the total production costs for energy intensive industries in Europe, and even more for some industrial sectors. ​ Despite considerable technical progresses in reducing energy consumption, a significant amount of the input energy is still lost in the form of excess heat.​ The potential for energy cooperation and waste heat recovery is huge, it can lead to substantial primary energy savings, decarbonisation of the energy supply and subsequent reduction of CO2 emissions, and it is largely untapped.​

It is against this background that the five projects forming the Alliance4ECEI were funded, and that they decided to join forces in March 2021 in their aim to maximise their impact. Since then, the Alliace4ECEI has already carried out several activities, some of them public, such as the organization of two joint workshops and the launch of its own website. 

Any EU-funded project, non-profit organization or association/organization based in Europe and working towards the decarbonization of the industrial sector, for example, through the recovery and use of excess thermal energy, or the integration of renewables in industrial processes, can apply to become a member of the Alliace4ECEI.