Performance Analysis of the 50 MW Concentrating Solar Power Plant under Various Operation Conditions

Enkhbayar Shagdar,Enkhbayar Shagdar,Bachirou Guene Lougou,Yong Shuai,Enkhjin Ganbold,Batmunkh Sereeter,Dongmei Han,Azeem Mustafa

doi:10.3390/en15041367

Abstract

Power generation using concentrating solar energy is a potential solution to provide clean, green, and sustainable power generation in the long term. The objective of this paper is to analyze the performance of a parabolic trough collector-based concentrating solar power (CSP) plant by selecting four different reference days (i.e., 22 March, 22 June, 22 September, and 22 December), representing four seasons in Mongolian climate conditions. Numerical simulation of the 50 MW CSP plant was performed, both at nominal and part-load conditions using the heat balance method considering variations of power load owing to the direct normal irradiation (DNI). The results revealed that the 50 MW CSP plant could operate well throughout the year, and it showed the highest value of operating performance for the 22 June due to the higher DNI and small solar incidence angle. The operating performance for the 22 March and 22 September is nearly similar. The lowest value of operating performance occurred on the 22 December. Moreover, the operating performance of the CSP plant in the part-load conditions was significantly reduced compared to the nominal load owing to the DNI fluctuation. This study also revealed that the CSP plant could significantly contribute to environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

Highlights

Nowadays, the world’s population is growing unceasingly, and the electricity demand is estimated to increase
The performance analysis of the 50 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant was investigated for four different reference days (i.e., 22 March, 22 June, 22 September, and 22 December)
The results show that the operating performance of the CSP plant was strongly affected by the solar radiation and solar incidence angle

Summary

Introduction

The world’s population is growing unceasingly, and the electricity demand is estimated to increase. It is the main reason for increasing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from electricity and heat production have contributed to the largest global greenhouse gas emissions in 2014, with a share of about 25% [1]. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a large number of studies have been conducted related to the utilization of renewable energy for power generation purposes with minimum pollutants. According to the technology roadmaps of the CSP provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2010 [2], the CSP could supply 11.3% of global electricity by 2050. The one-megawatt capacity of the CSP can avoid 1360 tons of CO2 emission compared to the coal-fired power plant [3]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion