Odqa, a UK concentrated solar thermal technology startup, has announced two major renewable energy milestones that enable manufacturers and heavy industries to reduce the 20% of global carbon emissions caused by high-temperature industrial processes[i].
These breakthroughs in solar thermal technology could enable industry to completely decouple from volatile fossil fuel markets, stabilising costs and security, and deliver clean, extreme heat for industrial processes.
Metals such as aluminium and steel, cement, glass and ceramics all require high-temperature processes up to 800°C, yet no renewable solutions have proven scalable at the temperatures required by heavy industries. This is because fossil fuel alternatives, such as direct electrification or heat pumps are too costly or unable to reach and sustain temperatures above 200°C.
In a world first, Odqa has successfully generated 800°C air using concentrated solar thermal technology and directly used it in an industrial process. Its solution uses a field of mirrors and advanced aerospace engineering to capture the heat from the sun’s energy. The company completed a full-system demonstration plant at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in Spain, integrating a solar tower, air-based receiver, and thermal rock storage, which achieved temperatures of 800°C under real sunlight. The facility successfully dried mineral rock using heat drawn from thermal storage, proving the system can deliver continuous, 24/7 carbon-free heat at an industrial scale.
Complementing this large-scale success, Odqa also announced a breakthrough laboratory trial at its Oxford facility, achieving the world-first milestone of melting aluminium using only hot air. The bench-scale proof-of-concept proves the technical viability of Odqa’s system for the metals sector, where it has already validated laboratory temperatures exceeding 1,000°C.
“The reason most heavy industry hasn’t decarbonised its heat isn’t a lack of ambition, it’s the lack of a solution that works at the temperature and cost profile they actually need,” said Chris Kimmett, CEO of Odqa. “Our 800°C field trials in Spain and our success melting aluminium in Oxford prove that our technology works at the temperatures and conditions that matter. We are giving industry a path to clean, extreme heat that unlocks energy security and stable, long-term cost control.”
These achievements arrive at a critical juncture for heavy industry as energy availability, security and cost have become more uncertain. Recent geopolitics and conflicts have caused global volatility across oil and gas markets, exposing the risks of relying on imported fossil fuels. By capturing the heat from sunlight to generate zero-carbon industrial-grade temperatures, Odqa enables operators to achieve absolute energy security and predictable costs while hitting net-zero targets years ahead of schedule.
Learn more:https://odqa.com/
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