Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Status and analysis

Alami, Abdul Hai; Olabi, Abdul–Ghani; Rezk, Ahmed; Radwan, Ali; Rahman, S. M. A.; Shah, Sheikh Khaleduzzaman; Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali

doi:10.1016/j.ijft.2023.100340

Cited by 75 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 104 publications

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“…A didactic paper by Steinfeld and Meier [4] is available to provide the main theoretical aspects of concentrated solar technology, while the recent papers of Islam et al [5] and Khan et al [6] report on the current technology development. The purpose of this paper is not to detail the various solar technologies (more information can be found in various references [8][9][10]) but to analyze concisely the past and current status of the technology. For that purpose, updated data from the CSP.guru database as of July 2023 [11] are used to plot meaningful figures with the most important information regarding installed capacities, active countries, selected technologies, storage capacities, operation temperature, investment costs, levelized cost of electricity, specific land requirements and overall efficiency.…”

Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of Concentrated Solar Power Plants Installed Worldwide: Past and Present Data

Rodat,

Thonig

2024

Clean Technol.

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Solar energy is not only the most abundant energy on earth but it is also renewable. The use of this energy is expanding very rapidly mainly through photovoltaic technology. However, electricity storage remains a bottleneck in tackling solar resource variability. Thus, solar thermal energy becomes of particular interest when energy storage is required, as thermal energy storage is much cheaper than electricity storage. The objective of this paper is to make a short update on the CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) market as of the year 2023. It is based on the CSP-GURU database, which lists information on CSP power plants all over the world. Although this database is open, it is not easy to find UpToDate analysis. An overview of this expanding technology is presented and offers readable figures with the most important information. This includes the evolution of installed capacities worldwide along with upcoming projects (under construction) and technological trends. The evolution of storage capacities and operating temperatures is discussed. Investment costs and levelized cost of electricity are also provided to obtain reliable data for comparison with other energy technologies. Specific land requirements are highlighted, along with overall efficiency. Relevant examples are discussed in this paper. Eventually, it outlines the evolution of the CSP landscape with useful information for scientific and educational purposes.

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Section: State Of the Artmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status of Concentrated Solar Power Plants Installed Worldwide: Past and Present Data

Rodat,

Thonig

2024

Clean Technol.

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“…The working fluid is heated (often superheated under pressure) to several hundred °C and via a suitable heat exchange element used to create pressurized super-heated steam to drive a conventional turbine and thus create AC electricity. There are numerous concentrating mirror-receiver architectures: mirror dish central receiver; tower heliostat mirror field; and trough mirror or Fresnel reflector trough receiver pipe (Alami et al, 2023). The origins of CST can be traced back to 1866 when Auguste Mouchout drove the first solar steam engine with a parabolic trough.…”

Section: Solar Energy For Utility-scale Stationary Electrical Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar energy for societal decarbonisation: a perspective on emerging opportunities in utility-scale solar electricity and solar in the built environment

Meredith

2024

Front. Sustain. Cities

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The solar resource presents almost limitless opportunities for creating clean energy – not just in the form of solar-derived electricity, but also to drive heating and cooling cycles, create solar fuels, or indeed to promote chemical and biochemical pathways for the production of food, clean water and raw materials. There is an ever-expanding plethora of applications for solar energy as a critical contributor to global decarbonization. This short Perspective is focused on two of the largest opportunities for solar energy to make major emissions reduction and deliver societal fairness and economic impacts: notably utility-scale electricity generation and the more local opportunities of the built environment. We examine the two dominant forms of solar energy – the direct generation of electrical power via the photovoltaic effect, and the indirect generation of electricity (and indeed heating and cooling energy) through solar thermal cycles. As a Perspective, it provides necessary background for the general reader, but also seeks to emphasise the specific challenges and opportunities for the interested specialist.

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“…Recently, the government of Saudi Arabia launched an ambitious goal, "Vision 2030", which targets a total instalment of 54 GW of renewables by 2030 [40,41]. CSP accounts for the largest share of renewables' planned installation of 25 GW while the present installed CSP capacity is just 93 MW [42]. The country has an abundant source of solar radiation; thus, the yearly average DNI value can reach more than 2800 kWh/m 2 /year in the north-western region as seen in Figure 1.…”

Section: Geographical Location For the Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Techno-Economic Assessment of Molten Salt-Based Concentrated Solar Power: Case Study of Linear Fresnel Reflector with a Fossil Fuel Backup under Saudi Arabia’s Climate Conditions

Aljudaya,

Michailos,

Ingham

et al. 2024

Energies

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Concentrated solar power (CSP) has gained traction for generating electricity at high capacity and meeting base-load energy demands in the energy mix market in a cost-effective manner. The linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) is valued for its cost-effectiveness, reduced capital and operational expenses, and limited land impact compared to alternatives such as the parabolic trough collector (PTC). To this end, the aim of this study is to optimize the operational parameters, such as the solar multiple (SM), thermal energy storage (TES), and fossil fuel (FF) backup system, in LFR power plants using molten salt as a heat transfer fluid (HTF). A 50 MW LFR power plant in Duba, Saudi Arabia, serves as a case study, with a Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) above 2500 kWh/m2. About 600 SM-TES configurations are analyzed with the aim of minimizing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The analysis shows that a solar-only plant can achieve a low LCOE of 11.92 ¢/kWh with a capacity factor (CF) up to 36%, generating around 131 GWh/y. By utilizing a TES system, the SM of 3.5 and a 15 h duration TES provides the optimum integration by increasing the annual energy generation (AEG) to 337 GWh, lowering the LCOE to 9.24 ¢/kWh, and boosting the CF to 86%. The techno-economic optimization reveals the superiority of the LFR with substantial TES over solar-only systems, exhibiting a 300% increase in annual energy output and a 20% reduction in LCOE. Additionally, employing the FF backup system at 64% of the turbine’s rated capacity boosts AEG by 17%, accompanied by a 5% LCOE reduction. However, this enhancement comes with a trade-off, involving burning a substantial amount of natural gas (503,429 MMBtu), leading to greenhouse gas emissions totaling 14,185 tonnes CO₂ eq. This comprehensive analysis is a first-of-a-kind study and provides insights into the optimal designs of LFR power plants and addresses thermal, economic, and environmental considerations of utilizing molten salt with a large TES system as well as employing natural gas backup. The outcomes of the research address a wide audience including academics, operators, and policy makers.

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Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Status and analysis

Cited by 75 publications

References 104 publications

Status of Concentrated Solar Power Plants Installed Worldwide: Past and Present Data

Status of Concentrated Solar Power Plants Installed Worldwide: Past and Present Data

Solar energy for societal decarbonisation: a perspective on emerging opportunities in utility-scale solar electricity and solar in the built environment

Techno-Economic Assessment of Molten Salt-Based Concentrated Solar Power: Case Study of Linear Fresnel Reflector with a Fossil Fuel Backup under Saudi Arabia’s Climate Conditions

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