Technology development based on disruptive engineering
Since 2009, CADE has been engaged in Research, Development, and Innovation (R&D&I) activities focused on disruptive new technologies and industrial applications related to renewable energy and clean-tech industries. Below is a summary of the most relevant R&D&I projects and milestones achieved to date.
The main objective of the AnemIoT + SimulWind project is to ensure the structural integrity and safety of photovoltaic plants against risks derived from wind and aeroelastic phenomena, maximize plant availability and energy production through the anticipation and mitigation of potential failures.
This technology will provide the photovoltaic sector with an innovative tool that enhances investor confidence and increases the commercial value of solar plants.
The general objective of the ImpulSAF project is to investigate an innovative and technological process to produce precursors of sustainable synthetic fuels (SAF, HVO and methanol), using organic waste from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and fatty organic waste of agro-industrial origin.
The main objective of the GOTES project is to develop and optimize an advanced thermal energy storage system based on the Monolit-e prototype, by investigating new sustainable materials such as concrete, industrial waste and Phase Change Materials (PCM).
Furthermore, the system is designed to manage a variable energy mix (electrical and thermal), providing an integrated and decarbonized solution that enables the reduction of dependence on fossil sources in industry.
The main objective of the BioSCGas project is to create new materials, technologies, and processes for the generation, storage, and transport of renewable and local hydrogen and biomethane.
This generation of energy vectors will be made from urban waste, agri-food products, wastewater, and sewage sludge. The objective is to provide new technological tools to the renewable energy sector, encouraging economic activity and the creation of qualified employment.
The ECLOSION project will develop new materials, technologies, and processes for the generation, storage, transport, and utilization of renewable hydrogen and biomethane derived from biowaste (urban, agri-food, wastewater, and sewage sludge).
It will validate disruptive thermochemical, electrochemical, and bioelectrochemical systems powered by photovoltaic and wind energy for converting biowaste and wastewater into low-cost hydrogen and biomethane.
This project is being carried out under the European CSP-Era.Net call and aims to demonstrate the viability of applying a thermal storage system to a trigeneration system (cooling, heating, and electricity) powered by a solar concentrating field.
In November 2020, the project received a positive evaluation with a score of 12.5 out of 15. The project is a consortium with companies Protarget (Germany) and MES Energy (Greece), as well as NTUA and Demokritos (Greece) and SIJ (Germany). The total project budget exceeds €1.5 million.
Technical-economic feasibility study of applying SCWG technology to sewage sludge treatment.
Execution of several R&D&I projects involving SCWG technology for sewage sludge treatment and desalination of cooling tower blowdown water, as well as the development of IN-CYCLE, a novel tool for water cycle and equipment optimization in solar thermal plants.
Start of the MSLOOP project under the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) funding scheme of the European Horizon 2020 Program. The project aims to validate a technology enabling the development of a highly competitive solar field for solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough collector (CSP) technology with molten salts as heat transfer fluid (HTF), featuring an innovative hybridization system.
A pioneering initiative to provide continuous (24h) process steam from a solar field using parabolic trough collector technology and an innovative concrete-based thermal storage system (SolidTES).
The EDITOR project was launched with funding from the SOLAR-ERA.net program under the EU’s 7th Framework Programme. Its goal was to develop an innovative system for continuous solar energy supply, integrated into an industrial process plant. The system combines a new silicone-based HTF, Protarget’s parabolic trough collectors (PTC), and CADE’s C-TES concrete thermal storage system.
The first EDITOR system was installed in Cyprus at the KEAN soft drinks factory, where it has been supplying continuous solar process steam since September 2018.
Pons Patentes y Marcas (a consulting firm specialized in Industrial and Intellectual Property) issued a favorable report on the patentability of the SCWG process and its main components.
CADE has obtained certification for its R&D&I Management System according to UNE 166002.
CADE and Protarget signed a commercial agreement to launch solar thermal applications for industrial heating and cooling in Spain. These applications are based on integrating Protarget’s parabolic trough collector (PTC) technology with CADE’s SolidTES technology, creating a new business line called processCSP.
CADE participated as engineering contractor in designing a pilot plant for a concrete-based thermal energy storage system. As a result, commercial agreements were reached for marketing the system, and CADE launched its proprietary SolidTES technology, an extremely competitive alternative for high-temperature energy storage in concrete (C-TES).
The Innospray project was launched with funding from CDTI. Today, the technology developed in this project, CADE ZeroLD, is commercially available and being considered for various turnkey proposals in ZeroLD applications.