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5 Trends Shaping the European Thermal Management Market in 2025
Cooling requirements for electric vehicles (EVs), data centers, electronics miniaturization and sustainable energy efficiency have been key drivers of innovation in thermal management materials and systems. While pure plug-in EV adoption slowed in 2024, focus has shifted toward hybrid vehicles, EV charging infrastructure expansion and hydrogen fuel cell technologies, while the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has created new thermal challenges and opportunities in data centers, semiconductors and electronics.
Our conversations with Thermal Management Expo attendees, exhibitors, conference speakers and other members of the broader thermal engineering community have offered valuable insights into the industry’s future directions.
Here are five of the most important thermal management trends reshaping the market in Europe this year.
1 – The AI Revolution Driving Innovation in Data Center, Semiconductors and Electronics Cooling
Hyperscale data centers are implementing increasingly novel cooling strategies to deal with the explosion in computing power demand for generative artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing, replacing traditional air cooling with liquid solutions from immersion cooling to direct-to-chip cooling.
Ideally the problem would be solved at the chip level. Next-generation chips stack layers of logic, memory and sensors on top of each other, increasing the power density in the package with no room for heat dissipation. New tools and materials are developed to analyse and solve these thermal challenges, with broader applications in other microelectronics, including automotive chiplets, 5G telecom and avionics.
Europe leads global innovation in data center cooling, driven by standards set by organisations like the European Data Centre Association (EUDCA) and the Open Compute Project (OCP) in response to the EU’s strict environmental regulations and research funding incentives. Belgium's Imec, France's CEA-Leti, and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute spearhead 3D chip stacking research, while Barcelona's Innovation Hub, anchored by liquid cooling pioneer Submer, has demonstrated 50% energy efficiency gains at Telefónica Madrid.
2 – Sensors, Simulation and AI Converging into Embedded Predictive Thermal Management
Advancements in sensor technologies, digital simulation and artificial intelligence (AI) will converge to enable breakthroughs in embedded predictive thermal management in 2025. The combination of these technologies will provide dynamic, real-time temperature monitoring and adaptive cooling strategies across various applications, from onboard automotive systems to data centers and electronics.
The ability of AI and machine learning to process large streams of real-time data will enable optimization in thermal systems to a degree never possible before. AI can automate thermal monitoring of high-voltage batteries, motors and inverters, keep temperatures in different parts of a system at an optimal level and predict and mitigate hotspots in real-time.
A catalyst advancing these capabilities into European production is the Automotive Chiplet Program, launched in late 2024 by Imec with industry leaders including Arm, BMW Group, Bosch, Cadence Design Systems, Siemens and Valeo. Chiplets – modular silicon dies that can be combined to create more complex and powerful systems-on-a-chip (SoC) – enable the integration of AI directly into vehicle firmware, facilitating real-time thermal optimization through digital twin technology.
3 – Electric Aviation Stealing the Spotlight from Thermal Innovation in BEVs
Aviation has been the missing link in sustainable mobility, but in recent years dozens of well-funded startups have emerged to develop electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Airbus and other global airplane manufacturers have their own projects to decarbonize aviation, generally involving hydrogen fuel cells and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
Thermal management is a key factor in overcoming remaining weight and efficiency challenges and make electric aviation commercially viable. Some of the thermal solutions in electric aviation are built on innovations developed for battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV), but the field is inspiring thermal engineers, material scientists and specialist technology companies to reach further.
Munich-based Lilium has developed novel ducted electric fan technology with integrated cooling systems for their seven-seater air taxi. Sweden's Heart Aerospace is implementing innovative thermal solutions in their ES-30 hybrid-electric regional aircraft, scheduled for first flight in 2026. Rolls-Royce's facility in Bavaria is developing specialized cooling systems for high-power electric propulsion units, achieving power densities exceeding 10kW per kilogram through advanced thermal management.
4 – Thermal Management Solving Bottlenecks in Net Zero Energy Infrastructure
Thermal management in 2025 will continue to play a key role in addressing bottlenecks in the energy transition, industrial decarbonization and grid optimization. Efficient thermal management is used in power electronics and inverter systems to support renewable energy integration into the grid.
Thermal energy storage systems can help stabilize grids by storing excess energy from renewables for release during demand peaks. Thermal management is critical for solar panels, wind turbines and geothermal systems. Stockholm with its Open District Heating program leads in large-scale waste heat recovery, with 30 data centers now integrated into district heating networks.
Charging networks for electric mobility require thermal management. The high currents demanded by extreme fast charging (XFC) and megawatt charging for electric trucks and buses put heavy cooling requirements on the charging stations. Milence, a joint venture of Daimler Truck, Traton Group and Volvo Group, has started rolling out their European charging network in the last year.
5 – Graphene and Other Material Advances Transforming Electronics Thermal Management
Graphene has been reshaping thermal management in electronics since the early 2010s. Graphene-based thermal interface materials (TIMs) have improved heat transfer between component, enabling better cooling for processors, power electronics and LEDs. Incorporation of graphene clusters into phase change materials has drastically improved their thermal conductivity
Graphene-based heterostructures combining graphene with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) began drawing attention for practical applications five years ago and have been used experimentally in electronics and sensing. 2025 could be a pivotal year for targeted applications like deep-UV LEDs and niche photonics, although full commercialization seems further in the future.
Nanomaterials, like graphene and carbon nanotubes, are materials with structural components that have dimensions in the nanometer scale. Ceramic nanomaterials or nanostructured oxides are gaining traction in thermal management applications, such as EV batteries, energy harvesting in solar systems and thermal barrier coatings in high-temperature systems.
