10 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant operated by 100% solar energy: Sizing and techno-economic optimization

Abstract

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technologies are now fast advancing and competitive. The improved performance (technical and economic) of solar thermal storage systems (STES) is a major contributor besides other breakthroughs in design of main components. The demand for small-scale, stand-alone CSP plants suitable for the distributed generation market is increasing. Therefore, this study aims to develop a cost-effective 10 MW-100% solar concentrated solar tower (CST) technology. Three simple power blocks are proposed and studied, including Open Gas Cycle (GC), Steam Rankine Cycle (SC) and Organic Rankine Cycle (OC), using ASPENHYSYS program to optimize the performance parameters. A thermal energy storage (TES) has been also studied using a developed MATLAB code. Solar field components have been selected and sized to deliver the input heat to the power blocks. Finally, a financial model has been developed by MATLAB to compute the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). LCOE for the plant using SC as a power block is 0.0947 $/KWh which is lower than the GC and OC by 31.82% and 48.8%, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded a CST technology with packed rock bed TES and SC would be the appropriate choice for a stand-alone solar power plants capacities within range 10 MW.