TotalEnergies to get solar heat in a new EU project that granted Absolicon 520 000 Euro

The European Commission grants Absolicon 520,000 euro (approximately 6.2 million SEK) to collaborate with research institutes and energy companies in the INDHEAP consortium to develop a new energy solution that combines solar heat and electricity, which will be tested at the French oil company TotalEnergies.

Heat is inexpensive and easy to store compared to electricity, but generating high temperatures is simpler with electricity. The INDHEAP consortium aims to combine both technologies to produce process heat for industries.

The 8,5 million euro (100 million SEK) project will uniquely combine electricity from solar cells with heat from solar collectors to demonstrate how industries can replace fossil fuels with solar energy. While improving Absolicon's solar collectors is part of the project, the main focus is to showcase how the technology can be implemented in a petrochemical industry in Spain owned by TotalEnergies.

TotalEnergies is a multinational oil company with a turnover of 280 billion USD (approximately 3 trillion SEK) and 100,000 employees. They have a significant program to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions and transition their production to low carbon fuels. At their factory south of Madrid, TotalEnergies manufactures lubricants using 160-degree process steam, which is currently generated by burning natural gas.

Through the project, a portion of the steam used in lubricant production will instead be generated using solar energy. There is also available space at the site for a future large-scale solar energy facility.

The project includes three other industries that are being prepared through energy analysis and planning to replicate the installation after the project's completion. These include a plastics factory in Portugal, a food industry facility in Cyprus, and a plastic bottle factory in Egypt.

The project also involves New Heat, a company that purchases solar heat installations and sells the heat to industries. This allows industries to avoid investing in solar heat themselves and only pay for the delivered energy. New Heat is an exciting partner that has quickly become a leader in Europe for heat purchase agreements and collaborates with Absolicon in the planning of certain industrial projects.

The project is led by the French CEA, and in addition to TotalEnergies and Onetech, other participants include the Austrian AEE, a research institution with a long history in solar heat and a broad network, including in Egypt.

The total budget for the project is 8,5 million euro (100 million SEK), with the European Commission contributing a total of 7 Euros (approx. 84 SEK). Absolicon's share of the total budget is 740 000 euro (9 million SEK), with 520 000 Euro (6,2 million SEK) contributed by the European Commission.