July 27, 2026 | DLR organises a technical tour of a parabolic trough plant in Belgium
Solar process heat in practice
Design and solar tracking of the EuroTrough collectors
Triangular galvanized steel trusses on the rear side provide structural stiffness for the mirrors. They support the cantilever arms, which are connected to mounting pads bonded to the back of the mirrors. One hydraulic drive unit tracks the sun for a group of six EuroTrough collectors or more, each with an aperture area of 69 m².
Image: 1/2, Credit:
Solrico
Illustration of the plant’s performance
Bram van Dun of Campina Energie demonstrates the plant’s daily performance. The system responds rapidly to sunlight, increasing the fluid temperature by up to 30 °C within minutes.
Solar energy for industrial processes: A parabolic trough plant at Avery Dennison’s production site in Turnhout, Belgium, demonstrates the potential of concentrated solar thermal energy for the climate-friendly provision of process heat.
Research in real-world operation: As part of the ProSolNetz project, the DLR is investigating, amongst other things, plant operation, optimisation and the impact of mirror cleaning on energy yield.
Solar process heat of up to almost 300 degrees Celsius: the parabolic trough system at Avery Dennison in Turnhout, Belgium, demonstrates how concentrating solar thermal energy can provide industrial heat in a climate-friendly way.
This demonstration project is one of the most innovative solar process heat projects in Central Europe and was the focus of a site visit organised by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) in July 2026 as part of the ProSolNetz research project. As no comparable plant is currently in operation in Germany, the excursion attracted a great deal of interest. Due to high demand, a further site visit is taking place on 11 August 2026, which is already fully booked.
On sunny days, the plant supplies process heat at temperatures of up to 295 degrees Celsius, thereby covering the entire heat requirement of Avery Dennison’s production process. During this time, the plant’s gas-fired boilers can be switched off. Avery Dennison is a global manufacturer of adhesives and labelling solutions, operating around 180 production sites worldwide and headquartered in the USA. The plant in Turnhout produces adhesives round the clock.
The project highlights the potential of concentrated solar thermal energy for the decarbonisation of industrial processes that require high temperatures on a continuous basis.
Research under real operating conditions
The on-site tour was hosted by Campina Energie, which owns and operates the concentrating solar thermal plant. The plant is also available to DLR researchers for scientific studies.
“We are very pleased with our collaboration with Campina Energie, as they provide us with unrestricted access to the plant for research purposes,” says Dirk Krüger, project manager at ProSolNetz and a scientist at the DLR. “This enables us to investigate topics such as the effects of mirror cleaning on plant performance and opportunities for optimising operations.”
The plant has been in regular operation since March 2026. The insights gained are intended to help make concentrating solar thermal energy even more efficient and cost-effective for industrial applications in the future.
Proven technology for industry
During the tour, experts from industry, engineering firms and research institutions gained an insight into the plant’s operation. The solar field consists of 80 EuroTrough parabolic trough collectors. These concentrate direct sunlight onto an absorber tube, in which a heat transfer fluid is heated. The energy is then transferred via a heat exchanger to the production process’s heating circuit, where it is utilised at temperatures of up to 295 degrees Celsius.
In addition to the technology itself, the economic viability of operation is also of interest to researchers. Initial findings show, for example, that cleaning the mirrors once a year strikes a good balance between energy yield and operating costs.
Insights for the heat transition
Campina Energie is providing the ProSolNetz consortium with extensive operational data, enabling a detailed analysis of the plant’s performance. The measurements show that the plant now operates reliably and is largely automated. On sunny days, the process temperature remains constant at 295 degrees Celsius, whilst solar energy covers the entire heat demand of the production process and the gas-fired boilers can remain switched off.
As the production’s heat demand fluctuates throughout the day, the plant automatically adjusts its output. This dynamic mode of operation provides valuable insights for the design and control of future solar process heat plants.
The demonstration project in Turnhout thus demonstrates that concentrating solar thermal energy can already make an important contribution to climate-friendly heat supply for industry.
Contact
Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Lüpfert
Head of Concentrating Solar Technologies Department
