SUSHEAT Consortium at the Heineken solar thermal plant in Valencia, one of SOLATOM’s flagship installations, (c) RTDS 2025
Industrial sectors such as food processing, chemical production, and manufacturing rely on large amounts of heat every day. Traditionally, this heat has been generated using fossil fuels, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. At the same time, these energy-intensive industries require large amounts of energy for heat and electricity while releasing substantial quantities of waste heat that often remains unused.
By combining multiple renewable energy sources with waste heat recovery, the EU-funded project SUSHEAT aims to develop a new generation of highly efficient industrial heat upgrade systems capable of reducing energy consumption, lowering emissions, and improving overall energy efficiency. These can supply industrial processes with the necessary amount of heat in the 150-250°C temperature range.
Among the key technologies developed within SUSHEAT is the Linear Fresnel Collector (LFC) system, developed by its partner SOLATOM. The LFC is a solar thermal technology that harvests concentrated solar heat. Rather than acting as a standalone heat source, the LFC is part of the broader SUSHEAT heat upgrade system. The solar thermal energy provided by the LFCs can be stored, managed and upgraded through advanced high-temperature heat pump technology to meet industrial heat demand.
SUSHEAT Infographic, (c) RTDS
Why Solar Heat Matters for Industry
Decarbonising industrial heat is particularly challenging because many manufacturing processes require large amounts of heat at consistent temperatures throughout the day. While renewable energy sources can reduce reliance on fossil fuels, their availability often varies according to weather conditions and operating constraints.
To overcome these challenges, industrial heating systems must be able to combine multiple energy sources and make the most out of available renewable and waste heat, just as aimed evisioned within the SUSHEAT project. Recent research shows how hybrid systems can continuously meet industrial heat demands while reducing operating emissions and remaining competitive with conventional fossil-fuel-based heating solutions.
Building on this hybrid approach, in SUSHEAT, LFCs provide renewable solar heat, that complements other low-carbon sources, such as waste heat and ambient heat. By integrating these energy streams with thermal storage and advanced heat pump technology, SUSHEAT can deliver heat more efficiently and reliably.
As a result, solar heat is part of an integrated solution, rather than being just a renewable energy source. Such an approach is a good example for how industries can move towards a more sustainable and resilient heat supply.
How Linear Fresnel Collectors work
At first glance, an LFC system looks like a large field of mirrors. But behind this simple design is a carefully engineered system that captures and concentrates solar energy.
The mirrors rotate slowly and almost imperceptibly throughout the day to follow the sun. As they move, they reflect and concentrate the sunlight onto a tube positioned above them. Inside this high-efficiency tube, a fluid (such as water) flows and gets heated by concentrated sunlight until it turns into steam. Depending on the application, the solar field can deliver steam, or heat up water, oil or air as needed from the industrial processes. The steam can reach up to 400 °C.
Linear Fresnel collectors by SOLATOM at Heineken premises in Valencia, (c) RTDS 2025
Multiple collectors are linked together to form a larger solar field, allowing the system to generate a continuous supply of steam/useful thermal energy. Depending on the application, the resulting heat can be used for industrial processes, stored for later use via thermal energy storage tanks, or converted into electricity.
The mirror design and its arrangement are what makes LFC different from other solar concentrating technologies. Their flat, modular design allows them to be integrated into industrial sites while maintaining flexibility in operation and design.
How Linear Fresnel Collectors work. Source: Gemini AI generated
Fresnel Collectors Integration in SUSHEAT's complex energy system
Linear Fresnel Collectors are being used as part of a wider renewable heating system in SUSHEAT that combines: an advanced High-Temperature Heat Pump (HT-HP); a Phase Change Material (PCM) bio-inspired Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system; and a Control & Integration Twin (CIT) system.
Researchers have been looking at hybrid configurations combining LFCs with high-temperature heat pumps and shows that it can provide a promising pathway for decarbonising industrial process heat by balancing renewable heat generation, system efficiency, and operational flexibility.
In the SUSHEAT system, the solar heat captured by LFCs provides a key renewable energy input that can be combined with other heat streams (ambient and waste heat) to maximise system efficiency and minimise energy waste.
The captured solar energy can be supplied directly to industrial processes, stored within the thermal energy storage system, or upgraded through the high-temperature heat pump to meet specific industrial temperature requirements. Meanwhile, the CIT system continuously optimises the interaction between all technologies, helping ensure heat is delivered at the right temperature and at the right time.
Miguel Frasquet, CEO and Co-Founder of SOLATOM, notes in a SUSHEAT interview:
Linear Fresnel collectors can be integrated on both the high-temperature side, for steam production, and the lower-temperature side, before storage. This provides great flexibility, as the technology can deliver a wide range of temperature levels. The SUSHEAT project will identify the most effective integration approach.
Supporting the Transition to Clean Industrial Heat
SUSHEAT has the potential to transform the way industries produce and use heat. The project is helping to position Europe as a leader in next-generation industrial energy solutions, demonstrating how renewable energy and recovered waste heat can be effectively integrated to meet demanding industrial requirements.
Within this innovative system, LFCs were selected as one of the most practical renewable technologies for supplying industrial heat. Their ability to convert solar energy directly into useful thermal energy combined with their flexibility and compatibility with thermal storage systems, makes them a valuable component of the SUSHEAT solution.
The impact extends far beyond individual factories. SUSHEAT is expected to unlock energy savings of more than 100 terawatt-hours across the European market, while avoiding approximately 15 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
As Europe accelerates its transition towards climate neutrality, projects like SUSHEAT demonstrate how clean technologies can deliver both environmental benefits and long-term value for industry.
References
Marcos, J. D., Barbero, R., Golpour, I.& Rovira, A. (2024). Decarbonizing European Industry: A Novel Technology to Heat Supply Using Waste and Renewable Energy. In Applied Sciences (Vol. 14, Issue 19). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13945055
Ho-Tran, L., Fiedler, S. A climatology of weather-driven anomalies in European photovoltaic and wind power production. Commun Earth Environ 5, 63 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01224-x
Matthias Loevenich, Martin Bähr, Rushit Kansara, Jürgen Dersch, Robert Pitz-Paal,
Investigation of synergies between solar energy and high-temperature heat pumps for process heat applications in Germany using nonlinear techno-economic optimization, Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 349, 2026, 120805, ISSN 0196-8904, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2025.120805 .
Marcos, J. D., Rovira, A., Guedez, R., Trevisan, S., Høeg, A., Vérez, D., CABEZA, L. F., Butean, A., Enríquez, J., Law, R., Mikael, M., Sayannos, H., Nagyová, K., Santovito, M., Likozar, B., Mandrekas, V., Solberg, E. A.& BARBERO, R. (2023, November 29). Smart integration of waste and renewable energy for sustainable heat upgrade in the industry (SUSHEAT). 13th National and 4th International Conference in Engineering Thermodynamics (13CNIT), Castellón, Spain. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14652167