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Dispatchable concentrated Solar-to-X energy solution for high penetration of renewable energy

Project description

Efficient AI-integrated synergetic production of heat, electricity and H2 from solar

Throughout history, people have harnessed mirrors or lenses to concentrate the sun’s light and generate enough heat to start a fire. Today’s concentrating photovoltaic systems use this phenomenon to drive traditional steam turbines or engines and create electricity. The EU-funded SOLARX project will harness concentrating photovoltaic systems and amplify their benefits. The team will integrate three high-concentration solar technologies with AI-based smart resource management to meet local instantaneous energy demand. The system will produce electricity, heat for storage or industrial processes, and green hydrogen or syngas – and all this in a carbon-neutral way. These highly efficient concentration technologies will enable significant CO2 emissions reductions compared to current technologies.

Objective

Current energetic infrastructures are inefficient and hardly capable of integrating a large share of intermittent renewable energy sources. Carbon-neutral and high efficiency energy production adapted to local demands would be a breakthrough.
SOLARX integrates 3 high concentration solar technologies and AI based smart resource management, to produce - either directly with high efficiencies or through storage stages for maximizing revenues - mainly electricity, heat for storage and/or SHIP and green H2 or Syngas in a carbon neutral way. Three Key Technological Elements will be developed: a smart solar resource management algorithm which aims to meet local instantaneous energy demands, a high efficiency CPV receiver and a carbon negative bi-energy H2 receiver.
SOLARX’s main goal is to demonstrate the technical, economic and social relevance, at the laboratory scale, of the synergetic efficient production of heat, electricity and H2 from solar resource in a single facility, considering energy demands and market prices for a wide range of locations and application scenarios. SOLARX global assessment will demonstrate its role as a Game-changing RES within the framework of future implementation in a carbon-negative energy system. SOLARX will also provide power-to-X for larger integration of intermittent energy sources into the electric grid.
The high efficiency concentration technologies allow to reduce the environmental impacts with respect to current technologies, as LCA study will demonstrate. Also, social acceptance and socioeconomic impacts will be assessed, on the base of, among others, previous high concentration experiences. The regulatory frameworks will be considered within the roadmap towards the technology commercialization and policy recommendations will be published.
The share of SOLARX in the SHIP, electricity and renewable H2 global market by 2050 is expected to be 2-5%, 2-5% and 1-3%, respectively, while reducing by 1.5 GtCO2/year the emissions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-03

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD DE LLEIDA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 519 250,00
Address
Placa Victor Siurana 1 1
25003 Lleida
Spain

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Region
Este Cataluña Lleida
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 519 250,00

Participants (11)

Partners (1)

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