SFERA-III Final Event

SFERA-III organised its Final Event on Wednesday 13th December 2023, at CIEMAT headquarters, Madrid, Spain.

About the event

The event gathered more than 80 representatives (55 on-site and 25 online) from the research and academic community (active in the field of concentrated solar power, solar tower technology, thermal storage, small-scale solar heat and power cogeneration, high-temperature processes, water treatment or solar fuel productions); potential end-users and lead industry users; researchers and engineers from companies; policy-makers; representatives from EU projects and initiatives (ESTELA, EU-SOLARIS, Clean Energy Transition Partnership…).

During the event, the main outcomes of SFERA-III networking, trans-national access and joint research activities were presented in an open workshop. The impact of the project results was discussed with policy-makers, stakeholders, and the general public, in the form of three interactive sessions, featuring also the participation of external experts and project collaborators.

Presentations

Opening Key-Notes

• Opening words by SFERA-III Coordinator, Ricardo Sanchez, CIEMAT
• SET Plan Concentrated Solar Thermal Technologies Implementation Plan, Cristina Trueba, Chair of the Concentrated Solar Thermal Technologies -IWG
• Cluster 5 – Horizon Europe Energy, Luisa Revilla, Delegada nacional, Energía Clúster 5
• Clean Energy Transition partnership, TRI2: Enhanced Power Production, Francesco Basile, Università di Bologna

Session 1 – Key outcomes of the networking & trans-national access activities

• Key figures from doctoral colloquia, summer schools and training for industry, Daniel Benitez (DLR)
• Success Stories from SFERA-III Trans-national access: Pitches from invited users, Ricardo Sánchez (CIEMAT)
• Contribution to standardization, Marc Röger (DLR)
• Needs vs current status of RI in line with updated CST Implementation Plan, Valéry Vuillerme (CEA)
• E-infrastructure concept and proposed design; Diego Alarcón (CIEMAT)
• EU-SOLARIS – a European Research Infrastructure Consortium, Diego Martínez (EU-SOLARIS ERIC)

Session 2 – Key outcomes of the joint research activities

• Thermal storage systems: closing the missing gaps, Esther Rojas (CIEMAT)
• Solar desalination and water treatment, Marios C. Georgiou (CyI)
• Developments and breakthroughs in solar fuel production, Brendan Bulfin (representing ETH Zurich)
• Solar receivers operation and lifetime: better optical temperature measurements, beter thermomechanical knowledge, Emmanuel Guillot (CNRS)
• Sensor calibrations and performance measurements, Marc Röger (DLR)