Many industrial processes work in temperature intervals where solar thermal technology would be able to provide a main amount of the needed energy at a reasonable cost. However solar technology presents some difficulties for its implementation in productive scale: intermittence of the source, low density and some heat integration handicaps (Philibert, 2006). The main objective of this investigation was to evaluate the potentiality of a thermosolar-heat pump set in an industrial process, using a

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... systematic methodology which combines the pinch analysis and the exergy analysis for heat integration and optimization. The methodology was validated in the context of a tuna fish canning industrial plant, located in the seaside of the Basque Country of Spain, a zone subjected to non- favourable climatic conditions for thermosolar system implementation on industrial scale, due to diffuse irradiance is mainly relevant than direct irradiance (Basque Government Energy Entity, 2002). The study was focussed on heat improvement, starting with the establishment of the mass and energy balances of the process, and continued investigating and proposing feasible improvement. Then, it was evaluated the contribution of a solar thermal subsystem in combination with an adequate heat pump, and reinforced by a conventional fossil fuel resource (a natural gas boiler). Finally, the optimum heat integration of the overall system was determined through pinch and exergy analysis, taking into account main environmental and economical parameters.