CIC energiGUNE, the Basque research center of reference in electrochemical and thermal energy storage, has launched the ThermLab initiative to provide Basque industry with direct access to the most advanced infrastructure for thermal analysis and testing, as well as the collaboration of a team of world-class researchers in this area. The initiative is designed to enable companies to improve their competitiveness thanks to the advantages derived from deploying new innovative thermal management concepts in their products and industrial processes. Companies such as Alkargo, Cegasa, Ferchau, Gamesa Electric, Giroa, Iberdrola, Idom, Ingeteam and Zigor have already expressed interest in this initiative.
The objective of ThermLab, a project funded by the Department of Economic Development of the Basque Government through the Directorate of Industry, is to become an effective test-bed to combat the main problems arising from poor thermal management, especially the reduction of technical performance and the useful life of products. At the same time, it aims to provide Basque industry with a tool for monitoring and experimenting with new materials and technologies, one that will enable incremental innovation based on new scientific discoveries in a safe and facilitating environment.
In this way, companies will be able to integrate disruptive knowledge and validate advanced technology for thermal management through tests on an industrially relevant scale, before definitively incorporating such concepts into marketable developments. Moreover, ThermLab opens the door to the use of surplus heat, which can be managed as an important source of energy for use on demand, and also contributes to reducing the environmental impact of production process, since efficient management reduces costs and C02 emissions.
