Facilities of energy-intensive industries including those for the production of steel, cement, paper, glass, chemicals and others are spread across Europe. The combination of high flue gas temperatures, continuous operation and highly concentrated point sources make the excess heat from such industrial plants a very attractive source for district heating. Despite this, excess heat sources from industry are currently only rarely exploited and major potentials are being wasted. Here, we aim to contribute by providing the most detailed, comprehensive assessment of the excess heat potentials available for Europe. More specifically, we aim to analyse the available excess heat from heavy industry in Europe and assess its suitability for use in district heating systems. Our approach uses GIS-based mapping of 1608 industrial sites in Europe combined with a process-specific assessment of their excess heat potential. The heat sources are then matched with data on heat demand density and existing as well as potential district heating networks. The scope of this analysis covers the major industrial excess heat sources (large heavy industry facilities) and the most important excess heat streams: flue gases. Our results show a total potential of 425 PJ of excess heat available at a temperature of 95°C, with 960 PJ available at a lower temperature (25°C). This equals about 4% and 9% of total industrial final energy demand in 2015, respectively. Matching this potential with a GIS analysis of heat demand densities and current district heating systems reveals that 151 PJ of excess heat could be used within a 10km range at a temperature of 95°C, which is compatible with most existing district heating systems. As district heat today has a total final energy consumption of 1,945 PJ, this means that about 8% of district heating in the EU28 could be supplied by excess heat sources from energy-intensive industries.