Solar Thermal Federation teams up with IGCC for three year Solar Payback project

STFI will collaborate with IGCC for use of solar power thermal energy in industrial processes

Solar Thermal Federation of India (STFI) and Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) will jointly implement three-year support project for use of solar power thermal energy in industrial processes.

“The STFI and IGCC have teamed up for the international ‘Solar Payback’ project, which aims to increase the use of solar thermal energy in industrial processes. The Kick-Off meeting (for the purpose) took place in Mumbai on December 16 2016,” STFI statement said.

Supported by the German Federal Environment Ministry funded by the International Climate Initiative, the three-year project will be implemented in India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil, it said.

It is coordinated by the German Solar Association BSW-Solar and eleven partner organizations–three German companies, plus each target country s national solar industry association and German Chamber of Commerce.

Facilitators from Germany include research institute Fraunhofer ISE, the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG) and communications and market research agency solrico.

The project will be jointly implemented in India by Pune-based STFI and IGCC with its head office in Mumbai. It was launched in October 2016 and will end in September 2019. The budget for the four countries is EUR 2.96 million.

The use of solar heat for cleaning, steam production, bath heating and surface treatment in manufacturing is still a niche market in India and around the world.

“With Solar Payback, we aim to raise awareness about the huge market potential of solar process heat for three reasons: to reduce CO2 emissions, to save energy costs for the investors and to sharpen the competitive edge of local industries,” BSW-Solar Managing Director Jorg Mayer said in the statement.

India’s industrial companies, which are responsible for 38 per cent of the country’s total energy consumption, have installed a total of 40,000 m2 of collector area for solar process heat so far.

“The saving potential of solar heat technologies in the industry is enormous, and payback times are pleasingly low,” STFI Secretary General Jaideep Malaviya said while describing the Indian market.

The project partners will use a wide range of activities and communication tools to get in touch with the relevant stakeholders in politics, business and financing.

The key activity of the project include drafting a National Solar Process Heat Roadmap, developing a financing/business tool for planners and investors to offer preliminary analyses of solar process heat plants and developing policy recommendations for uptake of solar process heat at national level.

PTI FEED