Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) energy represents a sector of great importance in Spain in the fields of industry, energy and R&D. Of the 5,000 MW centralised solar thermal power plants installed in the world at the end of 2017, 2,300 MW were operating in Spain, and Spanish companies lead or contribute in several projects in countries such as the US, China, South Africa, Chile, United Arab Emirates or Morocco.

The new challenge of reducing emissions, through the advancement of the new Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan, involves doubling the penetration of renewable energies to 32% of the energy end-use by 2030. This means not only increasing solar power generation, but also doubling its thermal use in industrial process heat and quintupling its participation in the transport sector.

ACES2030-CM (2019-2023) is a programme of research activities funded by the Regional Government through the Programme of R&D Activities among Research Groups of the Community of Madrid in Technologies 2018, which is based on the results obtained by previous programmes, namely SOLGEMAC (2010-2013) and ALCCONES (2014-2018), consolidating the research lines of these and adapting its objectives to the new needs of the renewable energy sector in line with the objectives of the European Union by 2030.