Toward climate neutrality with TRINEFLEX

A toolkit to support the sustainable transition of energy-intensive industries

Resource and energy-intensive industries (REIIs) are responsible for approximately 19% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and over half of the energy consumption of the European manufacturing sector. Globally, aluminium production generates more than 1.1 billion tonnes of CO₂ each year. And glass production more than 22 million, directly impacting climate change and hindering the achievement of the Paris Agreement goals. To address this increasingly urgent challenge, the European project TRINEFLEX, funded by Horizon Europe, develops digital and sustainable solutions to transform REIIs. The goal is achieving climate neutrality by 2050.

TRINEFLEX (start date: September 2022 – end date: August 2026) is coordinated by the Spanish association AIMEN Centro Tecnológico and involves 29 partners from 9 European countries. These include universities – Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), Norwegian Research Centre (NORCE), and Tampere Universities in Finland -, and large companies. But also SMEs specialised in technological innovation  – IDENER.AI, R2M Solution (Italy), STAM S.r.l., TICASS, Syxis VSI (Lithuania), and Ventive Limited (Netherlands), URSALEO. The project has a total budget of over 19 million euros. About 16.3 million of this amount is funded by the European Commission.

A digital toolkit for greener, more flexible industrial operations

Focusing on five demonstration sites from the glass, copper, aluminium, and water sectors, the project aims to develop an integrated toolkit that enables industries to operate flexibly and sustainably. As an end-to-end service, it is designed to manage the digital lifecycle of plants. But also the transition process towards more flexible and sustainable operations. This is made possible through advanced and green data acquisition. Likewise, it is possible through Big Data infrastructures, process analysis, model development. Ultimately by Digital Twins with integrated multi-agent decision support systems. The digital implementation is also supported by the integration of transformative technologies. These came from the sectors of energy efficiency, clean energy, sustainable fuels and raw materials, and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS).

A digital lifecycle of the industrial plant

The project aims to provide a digital retrofitting process capable of collecting and leveraging process data both directly, through business intelligence, and indirectly, via Digital Twins (DT). It seeks to create an environment suitable for the predictive evaluation of changes in plant operating conditions. It also aims to enable the simulation of new technology integration through adaptable DT prior ti physical implementation. In addition, the initiative focuses on implementing a multi-agent decision support system designed to maximize flexibility in energy usage, industrial processes, and raw material management, supported by innovations with decarbonisation potential. Central to the approach is the development of a Human-centric Adaptation Strategy. A strategy that offers a comprehensive framework for replicating, meaningful participation, workplace well-being, and adaptability, while leveraging local and regional resources in alignment with the EU’s ethical values and principles for a just transition. 

The core of the platform is an X-as-a-Service (XaaS) toolkit designed to cover the entire digital lifecycle of the industrial plant. As mentioned, this approach takes the form of a service chain that combines advanced data collection, real-time analysis, predictive simulations, and operational recommendations. 

The TRINEFLEX Service Platform

The services are accessible through the TRINEFLEX Service Platform, developed on a cloud-based infrastructure and powered by AI-driven technologies. The architecture includes a network of distributed Digital Twins and optimization tools that interact with plant SCADA and IoT systems. The data collected are processed through a pipeline composed of modules for diagnostics, forecasting, optimisation, and decision support. In practice, the platform enables end users to configure customized models, verify in real time the impact of adopted strategies, and co-design measures with technology partners. Moreover, the platform simulate energy scenarios, identify bottlenecks, anticipate operational issues. Or activate demand response logic, and optimize interaction with renewable sources.

The five demonstration cases

TRINEFLEX involves five demonstrators from highly energy and resource-intensive sectors located in three European countries. Each site presents specific operational conditions and unique goals but shares the objective of integrating digital technologies, energy efficiency, and flexibility solutions.

VERALLIA Group (Veneto, Italy) – glass sector.

Verallia is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of glass containers for food and beverage. By reducing peak loads and applying predictive strategies enabled by a Digital Twin and advanced control technologies, the site focuses on reducing energy use and emissions from melting furnaces. It also aims to improve the performance of the main furnace.

REFIAL (Spain; Otua Group) – secondary aluminium.

Refial operates in aluminium recycling and melting. It aims to improve the energy performance of its facilities by retrofitting tower and rotary furnaces. This is combined with digital systems for continuous consumption monitoring and intelligent process control. Energy storage and demand response strategies will also be integrated.

ESAMUR (Regional Entity for Sanitation and Wastewater Treatment of the Region of Murcia, Spain) – water treatment.

Manages the regional wastewater system in Murcia and aims to optimize energy use in biological treatment and anaerobic digestion. Planned measures include increasing biogas production from sludge and energy self-sufficiency, supported by smart sensors, demand forecasting, and optimisation tools.

EYDA (Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company, Greece) – integrated water cycle.

It is Greece’s main water utility. Its goal is to increase energy efficiency, improve biofuel use, and implement a predictive system for process management. With this in mind, technologies for heat recovery and sludge co-digestion will also be deployed.

HALCOR (Greece) – copper sector.

Part of the ElvalHalcor Group, Halcor is one of Europe’s largest producers of copper tubes and semi-finished products. The demonstrator focuses on improving the efficiency of melting and annealing furnaces. But also on reducing consumption, and enhancing demand flexibility through Digital Twins, renewable energy integration, energy storage, and smart load control.

From policy mapping to technical deployment

To date, TRINEFLEX has conducted an in-depth mapping of energy and innovation policies in the regions of the demonstration sites, analysing RIS3 priorities, key local actors, and territorial dynamics. Among the key outcomes is a detailed assessment of regional biomass availability. It is around 50 million tonnes per year in Italy, 70 million in Spain. And 9 million in Greece – crucial data for planning energy self-sufficiency and industrial symbiosis strategies. Most important, tools and methods were also developed to assess health and safety (OHSE) risks in the pilot sites, including protocols and questionnaires tailored to each sector. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology was defined to assess the environmental impacts of the demonstrators. In parallel, a Gender Equality Plan was launched. A plan based on an internal survey highlighting the need for greater awareness and inclusive tools across all partners.

The consortium met on 18–19 March 2025 at the Palacio de Congresos Europa in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) for the project’s General Assembly. The meeting marked a key moment for consolidating progress and planning the implementation phase at the pilot sites. Although full experimental results are not yet available, technical deployment is currently underway.

References

• Mayr, M., Chasparis, G., & Küng, J. (2024). Learning paradigms and modelling methodolo gies for digital twins in process industry. arXiv preprint. 
• TRINEFLEX Consortium. (2024). Biomass valorization recommender tool development. arXiv preprint. 
• Processes4Planet – A.SPIRE. (2024). TRINEFLEX: Success story no. 4. https://www.aspire2050.eu/sites/default/files/pressoffice/publication/success_story_no._4_-_the_trineflex_project.pdf