Performance Improvement and Energy Cost Reduction under Different Scenarios for a Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plant in the Middle-East Region

Soomro, Mujeeb Iqbal; Mengal, Abdullah; Shafiq, Qadir Nawaz; Rehman, Syed Aziz Ur; Soomro, Suhail Ahmed; Harijan, Khanji

doi:10.3390/pr7070429

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Specifically, the LCOE of the PT Plant is much lower. Also, the LCOE of CSP plants for different locations in Pakistan is in good agreement with the LCOE of CSP plants available in the most recent literature [15,21,[33][34][35]. Thus, it can be concluded that the CSP plants in Pakistan are economically feasible/viable.…”

Section: Economic Analysessupporting

confidence: 84%

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Performance and Economic Analysis of Concentrated Solar Power Generation for Pakistan

et al. 2019

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In Pakistan, the utilization of renewable energy sources is increasing in order to reduce the electricity supply and demand gap. However, concentrated solar power (CSP) generation has not been considered in the country even though it has gained considerable attention worldwide. This study, as such, investigates the potential, performance, and economic analyses of four CSP technologies for different locations in Pakistan. Initially, an assessment of CSP sites, including solar resource, land, and water availability, was undertaken. Then, performance simulations of CSP technologies for four different locations of Pakistan, namely Quetta, Hyderabad, Multan, and Peshawar, were examined. For all cases, highest energy production was achieved in summers and lowest in winters, and CSP plants with evaporative cooling were found to be efficient compared to air cooling. The results also revealed that the Quetta and Hyderabad regions were promising for CSP development while parabolic tough (PT) and solar power tower (SPT) were the suitable CSP technologies for these regions. Specifically, the SPT plant with air cooling could be a favorable option for energy production in Quetta. Lastly, economic analyses revealed the financial feasibility of CSP plants in Pakistan since the levelized cost of energy is found to be significantly low.Processes 2019, 7, 575 2 of 26 negligible. Specifically, an abundant potential of solar energy is available in the country because of its location in the sunbelt. Solar energy can be utilized in two ways: solar photovoltaics (SPV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) [4]. SPV systems are used to convert sunlight directly into electricity whereas CSP systems (also known as solar thermal systems) are used for concentrating and heating a heat transfer fluid (HTF) for a power cycle. In Pakistan, the installation and development of the SPV system is growing [4]. Quaid-e-Azam solar park (QASP), which is the first ever power station in the country consisting of SPV with a capacity of 1000 MW, is under construction [4]. Out of 1000 MW of QASP, 300 MW has been already added to the national grid. Also, several small to large scale projects consisting of solar photovoltaics are under operation and construction [4]. However, CSP systems have not been utilized in Pakistan.CSP is a promising technology for large scale power production. There are four families of CSP technology including (i) parabolic trough collectors (PTC), (ii) solar power tower (SPT), (iii) linear Fresnel reflects (LFR), and (iv) parabolic dish systems (PDs). There are numerous advantages of CSP, such as renewable, clean, low operating cost, etc. However, one of the issues with CSP is soiling of mirrors, where dirt is accumulated on the mirrors/reflectors. It causes a reduction in the electricity production. The soiling effect can be reduced by proper cleaning/washing of the mirrors [5][6][7]. The commercialization of CSP is increasing. For instance, the CSP global capacity was 400 MW in 2006, which increased to 4800 MW in 2017 [8]. The global l...

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Section: Economic Analysessupporting

confidence: 84%

“…Parabolic trough (PT) systems are the most mature technologies used for CSP generation [15,17,20,21]. This is the reason that the PT plants are widely commercialized compared to other configurations of CSP [15].…”

Section: Parabolic Trough Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and Economic Analysis of Concentrated Solar Power Generation for Pakistan

et al. 2019

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“…CSP is a very well-tested and mature solar power plant designed for CSP [16,17,20] as shown in Figure 3. This is why in comparison to other CSP configurations, PT plants are more commonly commercialized [17].…”

Section: Parabolic Trough Systems the Parabolic Trough (Pt)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The system configuration is 10 modules per string with a DC-to-AC ratio of 1.2. PV modules have a 25- 20 International Journal of Photoenergy year life expectancy, with a 0.5 percent annual deterioration factor, while the inverter's life expectancy is set at 15 years.…”

Section: Selected System Details and Componentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentrated Solar Power and Photovoltaic Systems: A New Approach to Boost Sustainable Energy for All (Se4all) in Rwanda

Hagumimana

Zheng

Asemota

et al. 2021

International Journal of Photoenergy

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The energy sector of today’s Rwanda has made a remarkable growth to some extent in recent years. Although Rwanda has natural energy resources (e.g., hydro, solar, and methane gas, etc.), the country currently has an installed electricity generation capacity of only 226.7 MW from its 45 power plants for a population of about 13 million in 2021. The current national rate of electrification in Rwanda is estimated to 54.5% (i.e.; 39.7% grid-connected and 14.8% off-grid connected systems). This clearly demonstrates that having access to electricity is still a challenge to numerous people not to mention some blackout-related problems. With the ambition of having electricity for all, concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) systems are regarded as solutions to the lack of electricity. The production of CSP has still not been seriously considered in Rwanda, even though the technology has attracted significant global attention. Heavy usage of conventional power has led to the depletion of fossil fuels. At the same time, it has highlighted its unfriendly relationship with the environment because of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission, which is a major cause of global warming. Solar power is another source of electricity that has the potential to generate electricity in Rwanda. Firstly, this paper summarizes the present status of CSP and PV systems in Rwanda. Secondly, we conducted a technoeconomic analysis for CSP and PV systems by considering their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). The input data of the SWOT analysis were obtained from relevant shareholders from the government, power producers, minigrid, off-grid, and private companies in Rwanda. Lastly, the technical and economical feasibilities of CSP and PV microgrid systems in off-grid areas of Rwanda were conducted using the system advisor model (SAM). The simulation results indicate that the off-grid PV microgrid system for the rural community is the most cost-effective because of its low net present cost (NPC). According to the past literature, the outcomes of this paper through the SWOT analyses and the results obtained from the SAM model, both the CSP and PV systems could undoubtedly play a vital role in Rwanda’s rural electrification. In fact, PV systems are strongly recommended in Rwanda because they are rapid and cost-effective ways to provide utility-scale electricity for off-grid modern energy services to the millions of people who lack electricity access.

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“…Their results showed that an optimal combination of SM and TES hours could reduce electricity cost by about 70%. Soomro et al [30] used the SAM software to present a performance improvement of cost-reduction analysis for a 50 MWe PT CSP plant for Abu Dhabi. It was concluded that an appropriate selection of the technology could reduce the cost, improve the system performance, and effectively meet energy demands.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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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Performance Improvement and Energy Cost Reduction under Different Scenarios for a Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plant in the Middle-East Region

Cited by 11 publications

References 22 publications

Performance and Economic Analysis of Concentrated Solar Power Generation for Pakistan

Performance and Economic Analysis of Concentrated Solar Power Generation for Pakistan

Concentrated Solar Power and Photovoltaic Systems: A New Approach to Boost Sustainable Energy for All (Se4all) in Rwanda

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

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