Using industrial excess heat in District Heating (DH) networks reduces the need for primary energy and is considered efficient resource use. The conditions of Swedish DH markets are under political discussion in the Third Party Access (TPA) proposal, which would facilitate the delivery of firms' industrial excess heat to DH networks. This paper estimates and discusses the untapped potential for excess heat deliveries to DH networks and considers whether the realization of this potential would be affected by altered DH market conditions. The results identify untapped potential for industrial excess heat deliveries, and calculations based on estimated investment costs and revenues indicate that realizing the TPA proposal could enable profitable excess heat investments. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.