MATS – MULTIPURPOSE APPLICATIONS BY THERMODYNAMIC SOLAR

ENEA is the coordinator of MATS project which, over 6 years and for an overall value of €22M – 12.5 of which funded by the European Commission under FP7- has provided for the installation of a plant capable of producing electricity, heating, cooling and water desalination by using solar energy integrated with other energy sources locally available.

In the Scientific Research and Technology Applications City (SRTA-City), in Alessandria Region, Egypt, a 1 MW concentrating solar plant (CSP) has been set upt, that can meet the consumption demand of 1,000 households and produce around 250m³ per day of desalinated water for different purposes. This technology developed by ENEA makes use of molten salts, at a max. temperature of 550°C, as process fluid, and a heat storage system which can supply energy even under cloudy weather conditions. Moreover, the solar plant integration with generators powered by alternative fuels (mainly biomass) makes the whole system ever more flexible, ensuring constant energy supply.

Countries & partners:  ITALY: ENEA, TECNIMONT KT S.p.A., ASE - Archimede Solar Energy; EGYPT: ASRT- Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, NREA- New and Renewable Energy Authority, Delft Environment, OCI - Orascom Construction Industries; GERMANY: Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE; FRANCE: CEA-French Alternative Energies Atomic Energy Commission; UK: Cranfield University

ENEA Activities:

• Support in and coordination of all research, experimental and testing activities;
• Management of technical and administrative relationships with the project partner countries and the European Commission;
• Integrated e-learning services, managed through advanced software systems in support to training activities

Status: In progress