PS10 solar power plant

The PS10 Solar Power Plant (Spanish: Planta Solar 10), is the world's first commercial concentrating solar power tower operating near Seville, in Andalusia, Spain. The 11 megawatt (MW) solar power tower produces electricity with 624 large movable mirrors called heliostats.[2] It took four years to build and so far cost €35 million (US$46 million).[3] PS10 produces about 23,400 megawatt-hours (MW·h) per year, for which it receives €271 (US$360) per MW·h under its power purchase agreement, equating to a revenue of €6.3 million per year.[4]

PS10 Solar Power Plant
Official namePlanta Solar 10
CountrySpain
LocationSanlúcar la Mayor, Seville Province, Andalusia
Coordinates37°26′32″N 06°15′15″W
StatusOperational
Construction began2004
Commission date30 March 2007[1]
Construction cost€35 million
Owner(s)Abengoa Solar
Solar farm
TypeCSP
CSP technologySolar power tower
Collectors624
Site resource2,012 kWh/m2/yr
Power generation
Nameplate capacity11 MW
Capacity factor24%
Annual net output23.4 GWh
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

Suppliers

The mirrors were delivered by Abengoa, the solar receiver was designed and built by Tecnical-Tecnicas Reunidas, a Spanish engineering company; and the Solar Tower was designed and built by ALTAC, another Spanish engineering and construction company.

Specifications

Each of the mirrors has a surface measuring 120 square metres (1,300 sq ft) that concentrates the sun's rays to the top of a 115-meter (377 ft) high, 40-story tower where a solar receiver and a steam turbine are located. The turbine drives a generator, producing electricity.[2]

The PS10 is located 20 km west of Seville (which receives at least nine hours of sunshine 320 days per year, with 15 hours per day in mid summer). The solar receiver at the top of the tower produces saturated steam at 275 °C. The energy conversion efficiency is approximately 17%.[5]

Plans
Solar Towers from left: PS10, PS20.
The first three units of Solnova. I (right) III (left, front) and IV (left rear). The two towers in the background are the PS10 and PS20 solar power stations.

PS10 is the first of a set of solar power generation plants to be constructed in the same area that will total more than 300 MW by 2013. Power generation will be accomplished using a variety of technologies. The first two power plants to be brought into operation at Sanlúcar la Mayor are the PS10, and Sevilla PV, the largest low concentration system photovoltaic plant in Europe.[2]

300 MW:
Completed and is operating:

  • PS10 (10 MW)
  • PS20 (20 MW)
  • Solnova 1 (50 MW)
  • Solnova 3 (50 MW)
  • Solnova 4 (50 MW)

total: 180 MW.

Three more plants are planned:

  • AZ20 (20 MW)
  • Solnova 2 (50 MW)
  • Solnova 5 (50 MW)

Total 120 MW.

PS20 and AZ20 are twin 20 MWe tower plants based on the same concept as PS10.[6]

Energy storage

The PS10 solar power tower stores heat in tanks as superheated and pressurized water at 50 bar and 285 °C. The water evaporates and flashes back to steam, releasing energy and reducing the pressure. Storage is for 30 minutes.[7] It is suggested that longer storage is possible, but that has not been proven in an existing power plant. However, there are many considerations for using molten salt as an energy storage medium due to the great capability of storing energy for long periods without substantial losses (see Concentrated solar power). Another possibility is to use a phase-change material as thermal storage where latent heat is used to store energy.

gollark: There's this interesting book (http://radicalmarkets.com/) - I haven't read it, but I have heard lots about it - apparently it has policy proposals for reworking markets to do some stuff more effectively, which is what I'm interested in.
gollark: Perhaps you could solve all those issues, but I think it would be much harder than solving the ones we have *now*.
gollark: I mean, some of the issues I have would be gone without market systems, yes, but you would then introduce new much bigger ones.
gollark: No, I like that one.
gollark: The problems I have with our system are more about issues we ended up with than the entire general concept of markets.

See also

References
  1. "Inaugurada en Sanlúcar una planta solar que producirá energía para abastecer a toda Sevilla". ElPaís.es. 2007-03-31.
  2. First EU Commercial Concentrating Solar Power Tower Opens in Spain, Ens-newswire.com, retrieved 2012-01-25
  3. First European Solar Power Tower, Electronic Healing, archived from the original on 2011-10-05, retrieved 2012-01-25
  4. "Planta Solar 10". Concentrating Solar Power Projects. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE). 21 April 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  5. Graham-Cumming, John (2009). The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science & Technology Come Alive. O'Reilly Media. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-596-52320-6. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  6. SolarPACES Home Page, Solarpaces.org, archived from the original on 2012-02-10, retrieved 2012-01-25
  7. http://www.abengoasolar.com/web/en/nuestras_plantas/plantas_en_operacion/espana/PS10_la_primera_torre_comercial_del_mundo.html
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