Keynote: Opportunities and challenges for CST in high temperature industrial processes

The application of concentrated solar thermal energy to high temperature industrial processes is considered to be one of the potential pathways with strong potential to contribute to the decarbonizing of this ‘difficult to abate’ sector, because the direct use of heat avoids the thermodynamic losses of converting heat to power. However, to realise this potential it is necessary to overcome the challenges of integration (of the solar plant into a complex industrial process), of variability (given the continuous nature of industrial processes) and scale (given that thermal input is typically larger than the output from a single solar field). In addition, the cost of the process must compete against low-cost fossil fuels in the short term and against electrification and hydrogen in the longer term. The paper will review learnings from recent assessments of various potential options with which to overcome these challenges for the alumina and copper production processes, together with some technology developments that offer potential to contribute to the solutions. It will consider the direct use of heat employed in a retrofit context, the local production of fuels and the co-production of fuels and other chemicals, together with hybridization and some greenfield opportunities.