Sustainable heat upgrade
for net-zero
SUSHEAT develops a new generation of highly-efficient AI assisted heat upgrade systems to harvest and store renewable energy for intensive factory processing needs.
Industrial processes require large amounts of heat currently generated by fossil fuels that account for more than 20% of world energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The United Nations International Panel on Climate Change stipulates that by 2030 global CO2 emissions need to be reduced by 45% compared to 2010 levels. SUSHEAT introduces a rational concept to harvest energy from renewable sources and waste heat to replace fossil energy for industry.
The big industrial energy challenge is to address the current, intermittent energy source availability from renewables. An innovation leap is required to deliver reliable, flexible renewable heat upgrade systems for heat on demand, at the right temperature and price for factory processing needs.
A critical, global target is to develop thermal heat systems for energy storage that are suitable for many factory settings with less greenhouse gas emissions. SUSHEAT solutions aim to ease the immediate and future supply impacts of industrial heat electrification on the local grid.
SUSHEAT technologies will explore renewable-based heating solutions to power industrial processes. This will enable industry to transition away from polluting carbon-intensive fuels that dominate the energy mix. New and existing AI-assisted systems will be explored for optimal heat harvest, conversion and upgrade, and storage.
Three novel key technologies will be developed and validated up to Technical Readiness Level (TRL) 5:
- An efficient, heat temperature upgrade (150-250°C) using a Stirling-based high-temperature heat pump working with low-global-impact-potential fluids to achieve the target high-temperature heat upgrade.
- A newly-designed and bio-inspired highly efficient Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system using a Phase Change Material (PCM) that is adaptable to the heat requirements at target temperatures which can provide system flexibility.
- A digital twin smart Control and Integration Twin system based on AI and fed by industrial demonstration data.
The SUSHEAT energy systems will be developed in top EU labs and assembled and validated in a leading Swedish lab for their reliability and replicability potential.
SUSHEAT will contribute to deep industrial decarbonisation by providing a thermal heat upgrade solution for factory processing. The SUSHEAT solution will deliver stable, on-demand heat with a full decoupling from any waste heat recovery and renewables availability.
The project will develop the key components for a new generation of highly efficient industrial heat upgrade systems fed by renewable energy sources and waste heat recuperation. Low-carbon heat will be fed via solar thermal, ambient or waste recovery heat, upgraded by heat pumps working with helium to minimise running and capital costs, and emissions, while meeting the thermal demand of the industrial process plants.
SUSHEAT will advance on technological improvements for novel, renewable TES systems, conversion and upgrade. Reaching for cost-efficient commercial results, the digital twin smart control system, fed by industrial data, aims to ensure the delivery of heat at the right time and temperature, on the factory floor.
SUSHEAT addresses the critical challenge of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in industrial processes by replacing fossil fuels with renewable-based heating solutions.
- Expected energy savings of more than 100 Terawatts per hour in the European market.
- Anticipated savings of around 15 million tonnes of polluting CO2 emissions.
- Enhanced energy efficiency for factories and manufacturing processes.
- Less need for industry to buy unsustainable, expensive carbon credits for polluting.
- Europe as leader in industrial solutions using waste energy and renewable sources.
- High-Temperature Heat Pump
SUSHEAT pushes the technical boundaries for heat upgrades with heat pumps at 150-250° C, with a Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 1.9 for 250° C, from a 70°C heat source. - Novel Thermal Energy Storage system
The novel bio-inspired thermal energy storage (TES) architecture enables for more efficient heat transfer from sources/sinks to storage media. The feasibility of linear fresnel collectors (LFC) is also enhanced in regions with direct normal irradiance (DNI) of approximately 1300 kWh/m2/year. - Control & Integration Twin
The intelligent control & integration twin (CIT) improves the utilisation of waste energy and renewable energy sources by increasing synergies of renewable technologies such as LFC, which raises the practicality of solar integration. SUSHEAT maximises energy efficiency and minimises waste by harnessing computational technology, further propelling sustainability efforts.
May 2023
Project starts
December 2024
Hardware software connection &
data reliability tests
April 2025
Production Manual for
High Temperature
Heat Pumps
April 2025
Final design of
TES tanks
September 2025
Heat pump ready for installation in test system
October 2025
Control & Decision Support System
November 2025
SUSHEAT laboratory rig commissioning
April 2027
Final results
