€2.5 million grant for collaborative project towards faster energy transition

A collaborative and climate-focused research project that Dr Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal is part of received almost €2.5 million from the Dutch government. The researcher from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) was granted €180,000 to focus on assessing the robustness and reliability of the system by building a model according to the historical data and future scenarios.

The grant is part of the government’s scheme to promote mission-driven research, development and innovation. Its aim is that organisations work together in a consortium on complete, innovative and practical solutions that contribute to the climate goals. This scheme focuses on project development for electricity, the urban environment and industry.

Sustainable energy supply

COM2HEAT is a research project that focuses on replacing steel by composite in low and medium temperature heating systems in the urban environment. The advantages are, on the one hand, that the costs for maintenance are reduced, and inhibitors are not needed or to a lesser extent. In addition, the friction resistance of composite is lower and there is less chance of scaling. Further

composite has better heat transfer compared to steel. The aim of the project is to develop and disseminate knowledge and an ecosystem for designing, manufacturing, installing and operating

collective heat systems built of composite material. There will be several pilot products studied and tested in Rijswijk. The insights will contribute to the development of an affordable, reliable, sustainable energy supply

The government subsidy for the project is €2,447,397 of which €180,000 is budgeted for Dr Ghiassi-Farrokhfal’s research team. The consortium consists of 15 parties: TNO (the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research); Erasmus University Rotterdam (Dr Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal); Huisman Geo; Enertrans; InWarmte; Compipe; WEP; ACP Technology; Escom; HP Wellscreen; Nijkamp; Cato Composites; Schneider Electric Netherlands; CPT-Tankwell; and Danfoss-Sondex. The collaborative project runs from January 2023 until December 2025.

The government report concludes that the COM2HEAT project can lead to diverse innovative products for heating networks with a smaller ecological footprint compared to steel. This can contribute to a faster energy transition.

Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal

Dr Yashar Ghiassi-Farrokhfal is an associate professor in RSM’s Department of Technology and Operations Management. He is also the academic director of Smart Energy at the Erasmus Centre for Data Analytics (ECDA) and the communication director of ACM SIGEnergy. He obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto. He has several publications in top-notch journals and has organised multiple conferences in the field of the energy transition. He has also been involved in several European projects such as FlexSUS (heat transition of municipalities) and MAGPIE (energy transition in ports). He uses multi-disciplinary approaches and has studied several aspects of energy transitions such as sector coupling, microgrids, electric vehicles, hydrogen, energy storage, and market mechanisms at retail, wholesale, peer-to-peer, and bilateral levels.

More information

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. Study information and activities for future students, executives and alumni are also organised from the RSM office in Chengdu, China. www.rsm.nl

For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Erika Harriford-McLaren, communications manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at harriford@rsm.nl.