Developed by Fraunhofer Chile with funding from Corfo, ANCESTRAL delivers critical insights for decarbonizing neighborhoods and cities, implementing Solar Heat for Industrial Processes (SHIP), and advancing District Heating projects. By combining physical simulations with advanced data science, our team of research engineers created an algorithm that maps hot water and steam demands across industrial operations, while simultaneously assessing heating and hot water needs for residential, commercial, and public sectors nationwide. Beyond merely identifying demand, the system evaluates how various solar technologies can meet these needs, pinpointing the most profitable solutions for each scenario.
The project, supported by Corfo’s Crea y Valida program and concluded in 2024, successfully demonstrated the immense decarbonization potential of SHIP and District Heating in Chile. The findings confirm that both solutions are not only viable but highly scalable alternatives for reducing fossil fuel dependence.
How Do These Systems Work?
SHIP (Solar Heat for Industrial Processes) utilizes solar collectors to capture radiation and transform it into usable heat. This thermal energy drives a variety of industrial procedures, including steam generation, water heating, and material drying.
District Heating, in contrast, relies on centralized thermal plants or energy hubs. These stations produce heat from diverse sources—such as biomass, geothermal energy, solar thermal, combined heat and power (CHP), or even recovered industrial waste heat. This energy is then distributed through an underground pipe network to connected buildings. In southern Chile, where wood burning accounts for 70% of fine particulate pollution, this technology offers a crucial pathway to cleaner air.
Viable and Profitable Solutions
The ANCESTRAL study delivered robust data on economic viability. In the District Heating sector, the team analyzed approximately 10 million properties using georeferenced data to create hourly resolution demand profiles. The results identified 332 high-potential "blocks" or zones with a combined thermal demand of 18.4 TWh/year—presenting an opportunity to provide sustainable heating to 3.3 million people.
For Industrial Heat, 281 companies were evaluated with the same hourly precision. The analysis determined that 205 facilities could effectively use solar energy for hot water, while 130 were suitable for solar steam generation. Together, this represents a solar potential of 3.6 TWh/year, a significant contribution to industrial decarbonization. Crucially, the study revealed that in many regions, the Levelized Cost of Heat (LCOH) for hybrid systems (solar + fossil backup) is competitive with, or even lower than, 100% fossil-fuel-based alternatives, proving that the shift to solar is not just sustainable, it is profitable.