Soil is one of the most important natural resources and its exploitation, preservation and regeneration are huge challenges for modern industrial society. For this reason it is essential to have innovative, efficient, cost‐effective and reliable technologies for the decontamination and soil remediation. These technologies should be flexibly applicable for a wide spectrum of contaminants. Beside other biological, physical and chemical methods, research on thermally‐supported soil remediation methods has increased over the last years. Due to a controlled heating of soil, the mobility of pollutants, their water solubility and their vapor pressures can be enhanced. To support biodegradation of pollutants, the maximum activity of most microorganisms can be realized by moderate heating independent of ambient temperature and seasonal conditions.

A new technological approach for direct heating of large volumes of contaminated soil using radio‐frequency (RF) energy is described. This method can be used to thermally enhance a variety of remediation techniques such as biodegradation and soil vapor extraction. The technical basis, a container‐based modular and mobile radio‐frequency platform is presented and the benefits of this platform working under harsh field conditions are demonstrated. Additionally, aspects of electromagnetic compatibility, system reliability and safety are discussed.