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Frontiers in Energy >> 2017, Volume 11, Issue 4 doi: 10.1007/s11708-017-0503-5

Impacts of solar multiple on the performance of direct steam generation solar power tower plant with integrated thermal storage

. School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206; School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.. School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China.. School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK; School of Energy, Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China

Accepted: 2017-10-31 Available online: 2017-12-14

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Abstract

Solar multiple (SM) and thermal storage capacity are two key design parameters for revealing the performance of direct steam generation (DSG) solar power tower plant. In the case of settled land area, SM and thermal storage capacity can be optimized to obtain the minimum levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) by adjusting the power generation output. Taking the dual-receiver DSG solar power tower plant with a given size of solar field equivalent electricity of 100 MW in Sevilla as a reference case, the minimum LCOE is 21.77 ¢/kWh with an SM of 1.7 and a thermal storage capacity of 3 h. Besides Sevilla, two other sites are also introduced to discuss the influence of annual DNI. When compared with the case of Sevilla, the minimum LCOE and optimal SM of the San Jose site change just slightly, while the minimum LCOE of the Bishop site decreases by 32.8% and the optimal SM is reduced to 1.3. The influence of the size of solar field equivalent electricity is studied as well. The minimum LCOE decreases with the size of solar field, while the optimal SM and thermal storage capacity still remain unchanged. In addition, the sensitivity of different investment in sub-system is investigated. In terms of optimal SM and thermal storage capacity, they can decrease with the cost of thermal storage system but increase with the cost of power generation unit.

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