scholarly journals Performance and Economic Analysis of Concentrated Solar Power Generation for Pakistan

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soomro ◽  
Mengal ◽  
Memon ◽  
Khan ◽  
Shafiq ◽  
...  

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.

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063
Author(s):  
Catalina Hernández Moris ◽  
Maria Teresa Cerda Guevara ◽  
Alois Salmon ◽  
Alvaro Lorca

The energy sector in Chile demands a significant increase in renewable energy sources in the near future, and concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies are becoming increasingly competitive as compared to natural gas plants. Motivated by this, this paper presents a comparison between solar technologies such as hybrid plants and natural gas-based thermal technologies, as both technologies share several characteristics that are comparable and beneficial for the power grid. This comparison is made from an economic point of view using the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) metric and in terms of the systemic benefits related to flexibility, which is very much required due to the current decarbonization scenario of Chile’s energy matrix. The results show that the LCOE of the four hybrid plant models studied is lower than the LCOE of the gas plant. A solar hybrid plant configuration composed of a photovoltaic and solar tower plant (STP) with 13 h of storage and without generation restrictions has an LCOE 53 USD/MWh, while the natural gas technology evaluated with an 85% plant factor and a variable fuel cost of 2.0 USD/MMBtu has an LCOE of 86 USD/MWh. Thus, solar hybrid plants under a particular set of conditions are shown to be more cost-effective than their closest competitor for the Chilean grid while still providing significant dispatchability and flexibility.


Solar Energy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 1198-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Wagner ◽  
William T. Hamilton ◽  
Alexandra Newman ◽  
Jolyon Dent ◽  
Charles Diep ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Olanrewaju Miracle Oyewola ◽  
Niyi Ezekiel Olukayode ◽  
Olusegun Olufemi Ajide

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology stands out among other renewable energy sources not only because of its ability to address current energy security and environmental challenges but because its energy can be stored for future use. To ensure optimum performance in this system, the heat losses need to be evaluated for better design. This work studies the natural convection in the receiver absorber tube of a CSP plant taking into consideration the influence of neighboring absorbers. A 2-Dimensional model was adopted in this study. Initially, a single absorber tube was considered, it was subjected to heat flux at the top wall, the bottom wall was insulated and a temperature differential was set up at the lateral walls. The dimensionless forms of Navier-Stokes and energy equations were solved using the finite element formulation of COMSOL Multiphysics software. The result obtained for a single absorber tube showed good agreement with existing research works. This validated model was then extended to multiple absorber tubes (two to six absorber tubes). On the basis of the study, there is an observed increase in the intensity and dominance of convective heat transfer with an increase in the number of absorber tubes. This is occasioned by an increase in the average surface temperature as well as average Nusselt number. For the Rayleigh number of 104, 105 and 106, the average Nusselt number increases with the number of absorber tubes by 13.87 %, 6.26 %, and 1.55 %, respectively. This increment suggests effect of thermal interactions among the neighboring absorber tubes


2018 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 143-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan E. Rea ◽  
Christopher J. Oshman ◽  
Michele L. Olsen ◽  
Corey L. Hardin ◽  
Greg C. Glatzmaier ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 877-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rakesh Singhai ◽  
Harender Sinhmar ◽  
N. D. Banker

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Christopher Hickin ◽  
Henry Li ◽  
Sharnan Kemp

In the development of renewable energy sources, there has been a trend toward increasing and stabilising the power output of Concentrated Solar Power Plants (CSPPs) during times of reduced solar resource through the use of Thermal Energy Storage Devices (TESDs). This study investigates whether the use of a molten salt TESD decreases the efficiency of a parabolic trough CSPP due to additional system energy losses despite prolonging the operational time of the CSPP. A theoretical analysis of a simplified CSPP was made to determine if a TESD would impact the efficiency of the CSPP. This was followed up by a survey of currently active parabolic trough CSPPs both with and without molten salt TESDs. The theoretical analysis illustrated that a TESD would have no effect on the efficiency of a CSPP. However, the survey revealed that the use of a TESD improved the efficiency of a CSPP. The results of the study don't support the theoretical analysis or the hypothesis suggesting that a property has been overlooked. This property is most likely to be that generators tend to operate best within a certain temperature range, and in a CSPP the optimum temperature range cannot be maintained. This results in a generator being selected capable of operating for the longest period with the lowest amount of excess solar energy. When a TESD is implemented, the excess solar energy is stored for later use, prolonging the generator's running time and increasing the useable energy. The realisation of the ability of a TESD to increase the efficiency of a CSPP as well as extending its operating time shows a promising area of development in CSPP technology and increasing its application in electricity generation.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra G. Papadopoulou ◽  
George Vasileiou ◽  
Alexandros Flamos

Raising the penetration of renewable energy sources constitutes one of the main pillars of contemporary decarbonization strategies. Within this context, further progress is required towards the optimal exploitation of their potential, especially in terms of dispatchability, where the role of storage is considered vital. Although current literature delves into either storage per se or the integration of storage solutions in single renewable technologies, the comparative advantages of each technology remain underexplored. However, high-penetration solutions of renewable energy sources (RES) are expected to combine different technological options. Therefore, the conditions under which each technology outperforms their counterparts need to be thoroughly investigated, especially in cases where storage components are included. This paper aims to deal with this gap, by means of assessing the combination of three competing technologies, namely concentrated solar power (CSP), photovoltaics (PV) and offshore wind, with the storage component. The techno-economic assessment is based on two metrics; the levelized cost of electricity and the net present value. Considering the competition between the technologies and the impact storage may have, the paper’s scope lies in investigating the circumstances, under which CSP could have an advantage against comparable technologies. Overall, PVs combined with storage prevail, as the most feasible technological option in the examined storage scenarios—with an LCOE lower than 0.11 €/kWh. CSP LCOE ranged between 0.1327–0.1513 €/kWh for high capacity factors and investment costs, thus larger storage components. Offshore wind—with a lower storage component—had an LCOE of 0.1402 €/kWh. Thus, CSP presents the potential to outperform offshore wind in cases where the latter technology is coupled with high storage requirements. CSP can be viewed as one of the options that could support European Union (EU) decarbonization scenarios. As such, an appropriate market design that takes into consideration and values CSP characteristics, namely dispatchability, is needed at the EU level.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4A) ◽  
Author(s):  
Madonna Makram Solban ◽  
◽  
Rania Rushdy Moussa ◽  

Developing countries are facing huge challenges toward energy production. Energy crisis not only negatively affects the industry, agricultural, commercial, and residential sectors, but it also negatively affects the development of these countries. Relying on renewable energy sources is one of the methods used to tackle the energy problem. The increase in energy costs produced from fossil fuel and the decreasing in fossil fuel production helps in decreasing the gap between the cost of energy generated from renewables and fossil fuel. Using the human population density in generating energy from renewable piezoelectric tiles in public facilities is the aim of this research. The presented research intends to investigate the potential of replacing the floor tiles in public facilities with piezoelectric tiles to generate energy and benefit from the high human population density and movements inside these facilities, and people will start to produce nonstop energy from walking throughout the facility. The presented research used quantitative method to investigate the potential of replacing the floor tiles in Shobra El-Khema metro station with piezoelectric tiles toward energy production. The research compared the electricity generated from piezoelectric tiles with the electricity consumed to electrify the station. According to the population density in Shobra El-Khema metro station, the research revealed that installing 7 Waynergy tiles in a location where all the station passengers are passing through will generate 3990 KW, which will electrify the station.


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