EU Energy Projects Podcast: How TRINEFLEX is advancing process industry decarbonisation

The decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries is one of the key challenges of the energy transition, with the diversity of processes involved and the complexity and scale of typical industrial plants.

Underlying this decarbonisation is the need for digital transformation with solutions and services for its delivery. And this is where TRINEFLEX comes in – a Horizon Europe supported project, which was launched in September 2022 to develop a toolkit for managing this transformation and facilitating the transition towards more flexible and sustainable industrial processes.

Looking back at the project, which is due to wrap up in August 2026, Mohammed says it has evolved in three main phases – project design, development and integration and the current, and arguably the most important, validation and demonstration.

“We are now demonstrating what we have developed in real industrial environments, in real operating plants with their real production pressures,” he says, noting that the industries selected each have their specific challenges.

For example, glass and the metals involve high-temperature processes, which are difficult to decarbonise, while water treatment tends to be more electricity driven.

“There’s no one solution that fits all,” he says, commenting: “Industrial decarbonisation is much more complex than it sometimes appears on paper.”

Similarly, the demonstration implementations have brought their individual challenges, primarily around the digital retrofitting of ageing industrial equipment, which was not designed with that in mind.

Another challenge has been the integration of intermittent renewables with processes that require continuous production.

“It’s not just about the technology but about aligning a lot of things – the energy system the infrastructure, data, economics, operations and people.”

While the demonstrations are still running, Mohammed says an early observation is that the digitalisation maturity varies significantly across the sectors with some quite advanced but others still with traditional systems.

Flexibility has also emerged as not only a strategy for decarbonisation but also as a competitive strategy for companies, with the real economic value that it can deliver.

The workforce has also arisen as an issue, with a lack of operators, engineers and managers.

“Upskilling and training are essential if these solutions are to have long term impact,” Mohammed says.

He adds that another outcome of TRINEFLEX is a training framework for knowledge and skills on relevant key topics.

Initially, the process was developed to provide background knowledge for the project participants but it is being made available more widely, along with additional modules giving insights into the demonstrations and their results.

It is also a concept that could be considered by other projects in which skills are lacking.

LISTEN NOW

Listen to previous episodes:

EU Energy Projects Podcast: How ETIP SNET is supporting the energy transition
EU Energy Projects Podcast: SF6-free switchgear with LIFE Blue 420kV GIS

More about TRINEFLEX:

Green hydrogen in TRINEFLEX: Application in wastewater treatment plants
Distributed energy storage innovations, challenges and opportunities in Europe