Designing a Power Station Based on CSP Technology in Nablus Governorate

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Date
2018
Authors
Hannoon, Sahar
Yasin, Aysar
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Abstract
Solar energy is a key sustainable energy source and the most bounteous energy source on the earth and considered as an important alternative to fossil fuels. Sun oriented vitality can be changed over into electric energy by utilizing two different processes: photovoltaic (PV) conversion and the thermodynamic cycles. Concentrated solar power (CSP) is seen as one of the most promising alternatives in the field of solar energy usage. Lifetime and effectiveness of PV system are very less contrasted to the CSP technology. A 1 MW parabolic trough solar thermal power plant with thermal energy storage (TES) has been evaluated regarding design and thermal performance, based on the System Advisor Model (SAM) to perform a yearly simulation. An area getting a yearly DNI of 2094 kWh/m2-year in Nablus is chosen for the technical feasibility of hypothetical CSP plant. The designed plant can generate annual electricity of 2,574,201 kWh with the plant efficiency of 21%. The capacity factor of the proposed PTC plant is found to be 30.2%. The sensitivity analysis was performed to find the optimum size which minimizes the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). The results showed that for typical solar field cost, the minimum LCOE is around 26 cents/kWh which is still pretty high as compared with traditional systems but it has a positive impact on carbon footprint, the proposed design of PTC based solar thermal power plant and its performance analysis encourages further innovation and development of solar thermal power plants in Palestine. Also, the research deals with the economic-financial aspects of two typologies of solar energy sources: Photovoltaic (PV) plant and Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant. The aim of the research is to analyze the initial costs, and benefits deriving from both the government economic incentives and the selling of energy between a 1 MW PV plant and a 1 MW CSP plant. Even if the two plants under test have the same rated power, it results that the produced energy, under the same environmental conditions, is different. This technical aspect influences the business plan, because the government incentives, as well as the selling of energy, are directly related to the produced energy. Finally, initial costs as well as maintenance costs are also different because of the different constitutive components and the operation principle.
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