LOINTEK INGENIERIA Y TECNICAS DE MONTAJES SL

Their core work

Lointek is a Basque engineering SME specialising in thermal systems and mechanical assembly for the concentrated solar power (CSP) industry. Their practical work covers the full lifecycle of solar thermal plants — from maintaining thermal fluid circuits to developing advanced power conversion components. In the SOLARSCO2OL project they are contributing to the design and integration of supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycles and molten salt electric heater systems, which represent the next generation of CSP plant architecture. Their industrial engineering roots in Bizkaia give them hands-on fabrication and assembly capabilities that complement more research-oriented partners in large EU consortia.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In 2015, Lointek's H2020 entry point was a practical CSP maintenance problem — developing a portable system to regenerate degraded thermal fluids in operating solar plants, a field-level engineering challenge. By 2020, their focus had shifted decisively toward frontier power conversion technology: sCO2 thermodynamic cycles, high-temperature molten salt heaters, and turbomachinery — all oriented around reducing the cost of solar electricity generation. The trajectory is clear: from plant-level servicing toward core power cycle R&D, moving up the value chain from maintenance engineering to system design and innovation.

Lointek is positioning itself as a CSP technology company — moving from service engineering toward sCO2 cycle design and turbomachinery, where the next decade of concentrated solar cost reduction will be decided.

How they like to work

Lointek has played both the lead role (coordinating TRANSREGEN as an SME Phase 1 feasibility study) and a participant role in a much larger multi-partner Innovation Action. The SOLARSCO2OL consortium brought them into a network of 21 partners across 8 countries, which is sizeable for a 2-project SME — suggesting they were valued for a specific technical contribution rather than brought in as a token SME. They appear to join consortia selectively where their engineering specialisation is directly relevant, rather than casting a wide net across sectors.

Lointek has built a network of 21 unique consortium partners across 8 countries through just two projects, which points to deep integration in one large pan-European consortium (SOLARSCO2OL). Their geographic reach is European, with likely strong ties to Spanish and other Southern European CSP research actors.

What sets them apart

Lointek sits at a rare intersection: an industrial engineering SME with real fabrication and assembly capabilities that is simultaneously active in frontier sCO2 R&D. Most sCO2 solar research is led by universities or large industrials — a Basque engineering firm with hands-on thermal systems experience brings a prototype-to-hardware translation capability that pure research groups lack. For consortia building SOLARSCO2OL-type projects, Lointek offers the credibility of a practitioner who has worked inside actual CSP plants, not just modelled them.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SOLARSCO2OL
  A six-year Innovation Action (€1M+ EC funding) targeting next-generation solar power plants using supercritical CO2 cycles — one of the most technically ambitious CSP projects in H2020, and Lointek's largest engagement by an order of magnitude.
• TRANSREGEN
  Lointek's only coordinator role — an SME Phase 1 feasibility study they led independently, demonstrating the ability to originate and manage EU-funded innovation, not just join others' projects.