Techno-economic and operational assessment of concentrated solar power plants with a dual supporting system

Gutiérrez, Raúl Tabarés; Haro, Pedro; Gómez–Barea, Alberto

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117600

Cited by 22 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…The parabolic trough collector is the most mature CSP technology available and has the largest share of total CSP installations worldwide [38][39][40]. Among the parabolic trough collector types, the EuroTrough ET150 has been considered in this work because this is the most advanced and sustainable technology used in most parabolic trough solar power plants worldwide [34,41]. The technical specifications for the EuroTrough ET150 collector are shown in Table 2 [42].…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technoeconomic Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana

2022

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This work estimates the annual energy that could be generated from a concentrated solar power (CSP) plant. The optimal location used for this analysis was selected based on a set of multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods employed in an earlier research. The paper also determines the financial viability of implementing a CSP plant within the selected location. A 100 MW CSP plant for the said location was modelled and simulated using the System Advisor Model (SAM) software with data from the online database of the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) available from the SAM software. Using a solar multiple of 2.0 with a TES of 6 hours, the plant generated an estimated annual energy of 306.850 GWh with a capacity factor of 35.10% and gross-to-net conversion of 89.10%. The months with the highest generation were from November to March while July to September had the least generation. Generation begins from 8 am, rising to a peak around 12 pm to 4 pm and gradually declines into the night. Results from the financial analysis produced a net present value (NPV) of USD 156,287,433.72 after the plant life of 25 years, indicating profitability of the project. Results from the sensitivity analysis showed that the project NPV became negative only when the base case capital cost, electricity price, and revenue were, respectively, increased by 15%, reduced by 10%, and reduced by 13%.

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Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technoeconomic Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana

2022

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“…By the year 2030, a 40% growth in global energy demand is projected. In this context, the production and use of renewable energies, such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and oceanic, have gained more and more supporters in the substitution of non-renewable energy sources [1][2][3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photovoltaic Solar Energy in Forest Nurseries: A Strategic Decision Based on Real Options Analysis

et al. 2023

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With the growing demand for investment projects in renewable energy, it is essential for the economic feasibility analysis to consider the inherent uncertainties of these projects and enable more accurate investment decisions. In this way, we analyze whether investment projects in photovoltaic panels to produce electrical energy in a forest nursery are economically viable through the analysis of real options. We consider the energy demand of a forest nursery with an initial investment of USD 90,417 in photovoltaic panels. The managerial flexibilities of deferral, expansion of 30.0% of the energy production capacity, and the project’s abandonment were inserted into the binomial model of the decision tree, built in discrete time. The project’s expanded net present value was 79.2% higher than the traditional net present value, capturing the value of flexibilities for managers. The deferral option was the one that most impacted the expanded net present value. Investment projects in photovoltaic panels to produce electricity in a forest nursery are economically viable when analyzed through real options.

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“…An additional degree of flexibility is provided by using a back-up heat source to supply the heat when the TES system is discharged, as it may happen after periods (days) with low direct normal solar irradiance (DNI, e.g., in the winter). Therefore, combining CSP plants with gas heaters is a common practice to increase the utilization factor of the power plant and, at the same time, introduce an additional degree of flexibility [6][7][8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hybridization of CSP Plants: Characterization of a Molten Salt Heater for Binary and Ternary Nitrate Salt Mixtures Fueled with Gas/Biogas Heaters

Giaconia¹,

Balog²,

Caputo³

2021

Energies

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Hybridization of CSP plants with alternative energy sources (fuels) represents a means to improve flexibility of operation, power dispatchability and utilization factor of the plant. New generation CSP plants make use of molten salts as Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) besides Thermal Energy Storage (TES) medium. Therefore, proper interfaces should be developed to effectively transfer the heat from the back-up source to the molten salt. This paper presents the results obtained in the experimental validation of an innovative gas-fueled Molten Salt Heater (MSH) prototype. The objective of this research is to validate the MSH design, where the specific properties of molten salts (compared to other HTFs, e.g., thermal oils) have to be taken into account. The developed reduced-scale MSH (90 kW thermal) consists of a heat exchanger with the molten salt flowing inside finned tubes cross-flowed with the hot flue gas generated in an upstream combustion chamber. LPG or a biogas-like mixture has been used as gas fuel. Experimental results have been obtained with two different molten salt mixtures: the “solar salt” binary mixture (NaNO3/KNO3, 60/40%w) typically used in CSP applications (up to 565 °C) and the ternary mixture known as Hitec XL® containing sodium/potassium/calcium nitrates (NaNO3/KNO3/Ca(NO3)2, 15/43/42%w) characterized by lower freezing temperatures. Experimental tests have been carried out changing some operative parameters like the flow rate of the molten salt (0.45–0.94 kg/s), the inlet temperatures of the molten salt (303–445 °C) and of the hot gas (596–632 °C). For both molten salt mixtures, it was demonstrated that heat transfer correlations based on the Dittus-Boelter equation allow to predict experimental results with <10% deviation between experimental and theoretical values of the heat transfer coefficient.

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Techno-economic and operational assessment of concentrated solar power plants with a dual supporting system

Cited by 22 publications

References 79 publications

Technoeconomic Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana

Technoeconomic Evaluation of Electricity Generation from Concentrated Solar Power Technologies in Ghana

Photovoltaic Solar Energy in Forest Nurseries: A Strategic Decision Based on Real Options Analysis

Hybridization of CSP Plants: Characterization of a Molten Salt Heater for Binary and Ternary Nitrate Salt Mixtures Fueled with Gas/Biogas Heaters

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