Assessment of Parabolic Trough and Power Tower Solar Technology Cost and Performance Forecasts

Abstract

recommended that DOE "should limit or halt its R&D on power-tower and power-trough technologies because further refinements to these concepts will not further their deployment." Subsequent DOE funding requests for Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology development have been sharply reduced (FY02, FY03) or zero (FY04). In 2002, DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE/EERE) conducted a Strategic Program Review that, among other things, identified a need for further technical analysis of CSP R&D. In response, DOE/EERE initiated a review process whereby an independent engineering firm would conduct a detailed analysis of CSP, which would in turn be reviewed by a second independent NRC panel.

The Role of Concentrating Solar-Thermal Technologies in a Decarbonized U.S. Grid

“…O&M also includes cleaning, maintaining, and replacing parts in the solar field. O&M costs vary with plant size, location, and local labor rates but typically account for 20%-25% of the plant LCOE (Sargent & Lundy 2003;Kutscher et al 2010).…”

“…On-site staff account for about half of the annual O&M costs ( (Sargent & Lundy 2003;C. Turchi 2010).…”

“…As mentioned previously, O&M costs are typically 0.02-0.04 $/kWh (IRENA 2020) and make up 20%-25% of CSP LCOE (Sargent & Lundy 2003;Kutscher et al 2010). As CSP capital costs decrease, O&M costs will come to represent a larger share of plant LCOE in the future unless they are reduced as well.…”

“…As CSP capital costs decrease, O&M costs will come to represent a larger share of plant LCOE in the future unless they are reduced as well. One commonly cited way to reduce O&M costs is to increase the size and/or capacity factor of the CSP plant (Sargent & Lundy 2003;Kutscher et al 2010).…”

“…The only significant staff increases with plant size are those needed for additional cleaning and maintenance of the solar field, which increases proportional to the field size. The administration and plant staffing remains fairly constant (Sargent & Lundy 2003).…”