Techno-economic assessment and optimization of the performance of solar power tower plant in Egypt's climate conditions

Abstract

Egypt is a sunbelt nation with plenty of solar resources and significant wasteland areas, particularly in its southern and western regions. Concentrating solar power technologies are tried-and-true renewable energy systems that use solar radiation to produce electricity in nearby nations. These technologies have the potential to reduce costs in the future. Comprehensive techno-economic research has not been conducted to assess the potential for the solar power tower technique in Egypt; instead, solar photovoltaic and parabolic trough systems are given the majority of the attention. The major goal of this article is to persuade the Egyptian government to pursue solar power tower technology and meet the accompanying difficulties. Using system advisor model software, six distinct locations were used to simulate a 100 MW plant for solar power tower technology. Based on a thorough technical solar power tower site evaluation research, these zones were examined. To achieve the lowest levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), thermal energy storage and solar field size optimization are carried out. The Benban location, with outputs of 521,228.8 MWh and 0.1130 $/kWh, respectively, has the greatest produced energy and the lowest levelized cost of electricity, according to the findings. The ideal design for the solar power tower plant was shown by the results to be a solar multiple of 2.8 with a thermal energy storage of 8 h. The solar power tower plant's lowest levelized cost of electricity might then be reduced, in accordance with the optimum configurations, to 0.1057 $/kWh.