INSHIP: Integrating National Research Agendas on Solar Heat for Industrial Processes

Despite process heat is recognized as the application with highest potential among solar heating and cooling applications, Solar Heat for Industrial Processes (SHIP) still presents a modest share of about 0.3% of total installed solar thermal capacity.

As of today’s technology development stage – economic competitiveness restricted to low temperature applications; technology implementation requiring interference with existing heat production systems, heat distribution networks or even heat consuming processes – Solar thermal potential is mainly identified for new industrial capacity in outside Americas and Europe.

In this context, INSHIP aims at the definition of a ECRIA engaging major European research institutes with recognized activities on SHIP, into an integrated structure that could successfully achieve the coordination objectives of:

  • more effective and intense cooperation between EU research institutions;
  • alignment of different SHIP related national research and funding programs, avoiding overlaps and duplications and identifying gaps;
  • acceleration of knowledge transfer to the European industry, to be the reference organization to promote and coordinate the international cooperation in SHIP research from and to Europe, while developing coordinated R&D TRLs 2-5 activities with the ambition of progressing SHIP beyond the state-of-the art through: an easier integration of low and medium temperature technologies suiting the operation, durability and reliability requirements of industrial end users;
  • expanding the range of SHIP applications to the EI sector through the development of suitable process embedded solar concentrating technologies, overcoming the present barrier of applications only in the low and medium temperature ranges;
  • increasing the synergies within industrial parks, through centralized heat distribution networks and exploiting the potential synergies of these networks with district heating and with the electricity grid.
Partners: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (Coordinator); Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas – CIEMAT; Arbeitsgemeinschaft Erneuerbare Energie – Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien; Fondazione Bruno Kessler; Universidade de Évora; The Cyprus Institute; Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving Foundation; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich; Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives; Middle East Technical University; Alliance Europeenne De Recherche Dans Le Domaine De L’energie; Centre Nationnal de la Recherche Scientifique – CNRS; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt – DLR); Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – CNR; Università degli Studi di Palermo; Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II; Università degli Studi di Firenze; Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia I.P.; Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e o Desenvolvimento; Fundación CENER-CIEMAT; Fundación IMDEA Energía; Fundación Centro Tecnológico Avanzado de Energías Renovables de Andalucía; Fundación TECNALIA Research & Innovation; Fundación TEKNIKER; Universidad de Sevilla; Centro de Investigación Cooperativa de Energías Alternativas Fundación – CICe; Cranfield University
Type of Action: Research and Innovation Action (RIA)
Funding Institution/Program: This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 731287.
Call: H2020-LCE-2016-ERA (Topic: LCE-33-2016 – European Common Research and Innovation Agendas (ECRIAs) in support of the implementation of the SET Action Plan)
Period: January 2017 – December 2020
Principal researcher: Dr. Manuel Romero