Participating Countries - Spain

Spain aims to reduce CO₂ emissions by 50% by 2030, with a significant portion of these reductions in the industrial sector expected to come from the transition of industrial process heating to heat pump-based systems. With the increasing penetration of electricity from renewable sources, heat pumps can become a key technology for the electrification of heat in Spain. Several initiatives have emerged recently, bringing together industries, electricity grid operators, and technology providers. The Spanish industry has a growing interest in high-temperature heat pump systems, and will be represented by three universities, two research centers, and one heat pump manufacturer in Project 68.

The Spanish working group is coordinated by the Efficient Thermal Systems group at Tecnalia Research and Innovation. Tecnalia is a leading research and innovation center in the field of energy technologies and sustainable industrial processes, including high-temperature heat pump systems, and it has a long-standing experience in coordinating and participating in collaborative research initiatives related to energy efficiency and industrial decarbonization. It is actively involved in national and international R&D projects aimed at decarbonizing industrial heat and promoting the electrification of energy-intensive processes.

The Energy Division of CARTIF, has capabilities in the development, testing and integration of high temperature heat pumps, for district networks and industrial applications. Additionally, CARTIF leads and participates in heat pump modeling, simulation and integration projects, development of digital twins, predictive and self-learning controllers to maximize energy efficiency and self-sufficiency.

The Thermal Area of the Research Institute for Energy Engineering at the Technical University of Valencia, is acknowledged for their expertise in modelling of heat pump and refrigeration systems, energy systems and industrial processes. It has more than two decades of experience in research projects related to applied heat transfer topics, with a particular emphasis on refrigeration and heat pump . Over this period, it has developed a substantial background through participation in numerous national and international research projects, funded by both public and private entities and   and it is actively participating in many EU-funded projects from FP6 to Horizon Europe.

The ISTENER (Thermal and Energetic Systems Engineering) research group is located at Jaume I University of Castellón. The main research lines of ISTENER are the development of ORC and high temperature heat pump systems for the industry., as well as new refrigerants with low Global Warming Potential (GWP)  for  efficient thermal and energy systems. ISTENER research focus is on transcritical and multistage high temperature heat pumps

The Universidad Pontificia Comillas, through the Repsol Foundation Chair in Energy Transition, analyzes the opportunities for decarbonization in the industrial sector, and through the Rafael Mariño Chair of New Energy Technologies researches on heat pumps and the combined generation of cooling, heating and power. Their main research field on High Temperature Heat Pumps lies in reverse Brayton Cycle with supercritical CO2 and its integration into industrial processes.

RANK, is a manufacturer of Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) and High Temperature Heat Pumps founded in 2010. Rank manufactures heat pumps with delivery temperatures of up to 150ºC with nominal  thermal capacities of 500 kWth. RANK has been awarded with the Spanish government Innovative Company Seal and with the Seal of Excellence by the EU. It has participated in more than 20 regional, national and European research projects and installed more than 45 machines so far.

Relevant ongoing or finalized R&D projects of the national team partners:

• CHASE, Combined Heat pump And thermal Storage for Energy efficient industry, 2025-2027, Project Partners from Spain: UPV. Additionally, 6 partners from other European countries.
• STREAMSTEP, Streamlining the optimisation of Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems and Prototype technologies in process industries, 2024-2028, Project Partners from Spain: Rank, CIRCE, ITA, AICE, INCO, Torrecid, Repsol,  Univ. de Sevilla. Additionally, 22 partners from other European countries.
• BEROA`+, Research in New Technologies for the Industrial Valorization of Residual Thermal Flows, 2023-2025,Basque Project with following partners Tecnalia, Tamoin, Sedical, Frigolan, Arrospe, Genelek, Aratt, Papresa, Unilever, Natra, BCAM, Basque Energy Cluster Association
• CIRQLAR, transforming waste heat into sustainable power,2023-X,  Innovation Fund project with partners RANK and Repsol
• GEDERA, Smart Management of the flexible Energy Demand on coupled hybrid grids, 2023-X, Spanish Project with following Partners: CARTIF, Rank, Cemosa, Optiva, Ara, Orbis, SferaOne, Softcrits, Hispasec, SferaOne, Univ. de Extremadura, Univ. de Malaga
• Push2Heat, Pushing forward the market potential of heat upgrading technologies
• 2022-2026, Project Partners from Spain: Tecnalia (coordinator), UPV, CARTIF. Additionally, 14 partners from other European countries.
• CHESTER, Compressed heat energy storage for energy from renewable sources, 2018-2023, Project Partners from Spain: Tecnalia (coordinator), UPV, Goiener. Additionally, 10 other European countries.
• Indus3Es, Industrial Energy and Environment Efficiency, 2015-2020, Project Partners from Spain: Tecnalia (coordinator), CIRCE, Fertinagro, Repsol. Additionally, 14 other European countries.