The ZEnITh project aims to accelerate the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries (EIIs) while maintaining competitiveness and supporting the uptake of European Net Zero Technologies (NZTs). Through an integrated and replicable approach, ZEnITh addresses one of the industry’s greatest challenges: the sustainable supply of thermal energy for industrial processes.

ZEnITh tackles key barriers to industrial decarbonisation, including the complexity of integrating new technologies into existing processes, limited replicability of current solutions, economic and regulatory challenges, and the need for stronger collaboration across the industrial value chain.

To address these challenges, the project develops and demonstrates an innovative plug-and-play solution that combines High-Temperature Heat Pumps (HTHPs), Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES), and an AI-based Industrial Energy Management System (IEMS). The system is designed to increase energy efficiency, flexibility, and scalability while enabling the integration of renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic systems, battery storage, and emerging technologies including mechanical vapour recompression.

The project follows a three-phase approach:

1. Assessment of industrial thermal energy demands, decarbonisation challenges, and opportunities for integrating Net Zero Technologies;

2. Development, integration, and validation of the ZEnITh solution in a real-world aluminium manufacturing process;

3. Replication, stakeholder engagement, and market uptake activities to support the wider deployment of zero-emission industrial technologies across European energy-intensive industries.

By bringing together technology providers, industrial end-users, and key stakeholders from the outset, ZEnITh is paving the way for a sustainable, competitive, and scalable transition towards zero-emission industrial processes in Europe.