Site specific process design for Hybrid CSP-Waste plants

Abstract

In this paper the features of hybrid CSP – Waste power plants are evaluated as a function of the location. The process integrates waste and concentrated solar within a combined cycle. The model is solved as a non-linear optimization problem within a multiperiod scheme to decide on the contribution of the energy resources and the operating conditions of the facility to meet a demand of 25 MW over a year as a function of the resource availability, solar and waste. Urban and rural areas of 5 different regions are considered selecting different types of waste, cattle and pig manure in rural areas and sludge and organic municipal solid waste (OMSW) in urban areas. The results yield that cattle slurry is selected over pig manure and OMSW over sludge. Only rural areas have enough waste to meet the demand constantly. Reaching the demand represents more than 50% additional investment on waste processing units. As a result, to ensure meeting the demand the cost of electricity increases by 30% compared to a CSP plant that produces following solar availability.