Based in Brussels, the International Copper Association (ICA) Europe is the leading advocate for the copper industry in Europe. As ICA’s European branch, the organisation represents companies that mine, smelt and recycle copper for use across the economy, in the electricity system, buildings, transport and industry. Through a team of policy, industry and scientific experts, ICA Europe promotes copper as an essential material for achieving the EU’s ambition of a resilient, climate-neutral Europe and seeks to ensure that EU policies enable the sustainable production of copper to serve Europe’s future needs.
Solarthermalworld.org was initiated by ICA Europe in 2008 with the aim of providing stakeholders from research, public and private sector all around the globe with first-class information about solar heating and cooling to stimulate market growth. The ICA Europe has supported the hosting of the website until 2021 as well as the content gathering continuously since 2008.
Please see below our most recent articles:
Will smart district heating bring solar thermal back into focus in Germany?
Even now, when everybody is talking about heat costs and gas security, solar thermal has a hard time in Germany competing against PV and heat pump combinations. To bring solar thermal back onto the agenda, the annual conference Forum Neue Energiewelt offered a special session on smart and intelligent operation …
Average gas price of 140 EUR/MWh over the next four years
The E.ON group is positioning itself more and more as a provider of sustainable energy solutions for commercial customers. Solar industrial heat (SHIP) is one of the solutions being considered, especially because good funding is available for SHIP in many European countries, as Kevin Bär pointed out during his presentation …
Fund of EUR 3 billion for decarbonising German district heating
The German Ministry of Economics is making EUR 3 billion available until 2026 for decarbonising the district heating sector. Municipalities, energy suppliers and energy communities can apply for funding from 15 September. The BEW programme, short for Federal funding for efficient heating networks will finance the new construction of heating …
Concentrating solar heat capacity quadruples in 2022
Multinational corporations have discovered solar steam as an important way to achieve their climate protection goals. Among the global players that have purchased a solar industrial heat plant this year are the huge breweries Heineken and Carlsberg. By the end of the year Givaudan, the worldwide largest producer of flavours …
Solar heat market and industry info package 2022
The Renewables 2022 Global Status Report is a heavy publication. It aims to report comprehensively on nine renewable energy technologies and their market, industrial and political developments in 2021. This has resulted in another thick work of 312 pages with 69 graphics and tables. It is a challenge to find …
“A tripling of solar thermal capacity in this decade is quite realistic”
At a meeting on 27 June, the EU Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) discussed the role of solar heat in the Union’s Solar Energy Strategy, published in mid-May. Although the strategy has the status of a non-binding communication disseminated for informational purposes, it is considered to be an …
Heat purchase agreements on the rise in Spain
In Spain, the global spike in fossil fuel prices has made large solar systems as competitive as ever. Together with the financial support granted by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), these systems are now capable to reach short payback periods of just a few years. Consequently, a growing number …
Survey of German solar collector industry: “daily struggle to procure materials”
Throughout the world, logistics are currently disrupted and supply chains have broken down. Raw materials for collector and storage tank production in Germany are currently only available with delays. A survey of the German solar collector industry has shown, however, that the companies are affected very differently. Some report massive …
Strongly downsized, but crisis-ridden solar collector industry in Germany
In Germany, sales of solar collectors declined sharply between 2009 and 2019. A market shakeout was the result. The number of manufacturers of stationary collectors, i.e. flat-plate, vacuum tube and air collectors, has almost halved. Of the 38 German companies that research by Solrico for the World Map of the …
Large heat pumps: research confirms profitability
Whenever large heat consumers want to move away from oil and gas, combining a collector field and brine heat pumps is an idea well worth considering. The crucial question then is how many large heat pumps with a capacity above 50 kW have made it to market already and how …
Can the new Greek Development Law increase demand for solar process heat?
In Greece, the market for solar process heat seems to be still in its infancy. The Greek solar thermal industry, as well as the number of domestic collector factories, may be growing at an impressive rate. But less than 30 % of the collectors produced in Greece later remain in …
Technical support for EU energy communities
Thermal Energy communities are considered a crucial factor in paving the way for an environmentally sustainable and carbon-neutral energy democracy by 2050. To promote these sorts of prosumer collaboration, the European Commission has launched two initiatives called the Energy Communities Repository (ECR), set up as early as April, and the …
