Lessons learned from 15 SHIP projects in operation
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has published an unusual but practice-orientated Navigator Brief about solar industrial heat. Why unusual? The Brief summarizes the experience gained from 15 operational solar heat projects, not focusing on technical details but on decisive parameters and success factors that really got the projects off the ground. The 20-page brochure also includes a list of key parameters that companies should consider when assessing the suitability of solar thermal solutions for their company operations. The banner shows the leaders of WBCSD, who jointly organized a webinar to introduce the Navigator Brief on 5 December 2024. You can find the recording of the webinar and download link for the Brief here.
“Low and medium temperature industrial process heat can be decarbonized using existing renewable heat solutions but the pace of adoption remains slow due to infrastructural hazards and commercial constrains,” pointed out Celine le Goazigo, Senior Manager at WBCSD in her opening remarks during the above-mentioned webinar. “So at WBCSD we recognized how important it is to accelerate the deployment of these solutions and that’s why we have a dedicated workstream on decarbonization and we are cooperating with our members to overcome these barriers.”
WBCSD is a global, non-profit, CEO-led organization of over 240 leading businesses working together to accelerate the transition to a sustainable world. Well-known corporations are among the members such as ABB, Amazon, Apple, Bayer, Bloomberg, Daikin, E.ON etc.
The Brief is the first in a series on mature renewable heat solutions. It provides an overview of the solar thermal solutions and experience from 15 operational projects. The following project developers provided the case studies: New Heat (France), TVP Solar (Switzerland), SOLID Solar Energy Systems (Austria), Solarlite CSP Technology (Germany), Flemming Jorgensen (Mexico), Absolicon Solar Collector (Sweden), Modulo Solar (Mexico). The large majority of the projects integrated solar heat into existing infrastructure. The lessons learned are structured into four categories and summarized in the figure below:
- Decisive parameters leading to solar thermal being chosen as a solution
- Barriers faced in realizing the installation and how they were overcome
- Decisive success factors which really got the project off the ground
- Ease of process integration into existing infrastructure
Lessons learned from 15 case studies described in the SHIP Navigator Brief Source: WBCSD
Required space and capital expenditure
The second practice-orientated part of the Brief is a listing of key parameters that companies should consider when assessing the suitability of solar thermal solutions for their company operations. The parameters are spread across four areas, starting with key process parameters orientated on the requirements of the company. Second is the required space for the technology, third the commercial parameters and finally other parameters such as overall efficiency, safety and lifetime. You will find the ranges of the values and the detailed descriptions in the Navigator Brief, some of which are listed in the table below.
| Parameter | Non-concentrating solar thermal | Concentrating solar thermal |
| Required space | 1.6 to 1.9 m2/kW | 2.1 to 4.2 m2/kW |
| Process integration | If using existing heat infrastructure, integration can be done in planned downtime without disrupting production. | |
| Capital expenditure | 400 to 1000 EUR/kW | 600 to 1200 EUR/kW |
| Operational cost | 0.5 to 1 % of CAPEX annually | 0.5 to 3 % of CAPEX annually |
| Levelized cost of heat | 20 to 50 EUR/MWh | 30 to 70 EUR/MWh |
Key parameters for assessing suitability of solar thermal solutions Source: WBCSD
Factors that determine the commercial viability of SHIP projects
“You can get a rough idea of the commercial viability of solar thermal by looking at three key parameters”, explained Daniel Galis, WBCSD Associate, during the webinar whilst showing the graphic below. The first parameter is the required temperature as a lower temperature requirement increases efficiency and decreases the capital costs. The second is the project size as bigger projects achieve economies of scale. The third parameter is the location as sites with higher irradiance produce more heat and the availability of land lowers the costs.
Parameters that determine the commercial viability of a project Source: WBCSD
More information:
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD): https://www.wbcsd.org/
Renewable industrial heat Navigator Brief – Solar thermal solutions: https://www.wbcsd.org/resources/solar-thermal-solutions/
