Avery Dennison commissioned Europe?s larger Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) platform and Thermal Storage unit at its production plant in Turnhout, Belgium. The renewable energy project contains a Concentrated Solar Thermal platform with 2,240 surface mirrors, with a solar field peak yield of 2.7 GWh thermal power, and six thermal storage modules with a capacity of 5 MWh thermal power. The renewable energy platform, consisting of a CST field and Thermal Storage unit, covers roughly 5,540 square meters on site, and will contain the larger installation of parabolic mirrors combined with thermal energy storage in an industrial setting in Europe.

In operation, the total installation will provide heat equivalent to 2.3 GWh of gas consumption, reducing the plant?s greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 9% annually ? compared to current rates. During summer months and high-sunshine periods, it will provide up to 100 percent of the factory?s heat demand.

The project is a collaboration with Azteq, an organization that builds, develops and maintains CST facilities; ENERGYNEST, a long-duration thermal energy storage (TES) provider; and local community group Campina Energie, which helped secure a portion of the project financing. The CST platform ? built by Azteq ?

will concentrate energy from direct sunlight into a collector tube filled with absorption liquid, like thermal oil. Additionally, thermal energy from this process will be stored in ENERGYNEST?s ThermalBattery? and dispatched on demand as secure, green heat.

When coupled with the six battery modules, the CST platform can produce and dispatch high-temperature thermal energy both day and night on demand. The solar field, thermal storage and heat distribution system of the Avery Dennison production facility is all connected by the Balance of Plant (BoP) by AURA GmbH & Co. KG, and used for heat shifting between the heat sources and heat sinks.

By supplying zero-carbon solar energy, the project will help provide heat to run drying ovens, which are used during the coating process of pressure-sensitive adhesive products manufactured at the site. These products are used in industries such as automotive, building and construction, medical devices and personal care. Financing was secured through Campina Energie, which is engaged in green energy projects and represents more than 1,000 Turnhout residents.

The ENERGYNEST thermal battery installation received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. Azteq?s CST platform is partially funded by the Flemish Government via the call Green Heat. The BoP has been developed in the research project #MODULUS which is partly funded by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.