Thermal Storage Commercial Plant Design Study for a 2-Tank Indirect Molten Salt System. Final Report for May 13, 2002 to December 31, 2004

摘要

The development of a near-term thermal energy storage (TES) option is a major breakthrough for parabolic trough solar power plant technology. The 2-tank indirect TES concept proposed by Nexant and SunLab is being implemented in the AndaSol 50 MWe (net) trough plant currently under development in Spain. The project will have between 6-12 hours of TES depending on the economic optimization. In the U.S., Duke Solar is seriously considering this option where operational and economic factors favor its use. The economic optimum depends on the cost and performance of the TES system. The cost and performance of the indirect TES system are not independent because the size (cost) of the heat exchanger affects the physical size of the storage system and the performance of the turbine. The objectives of this Task were to develop a set of conceptual designs for 2-tank molten salt thermal energy storage (TES) systems of varying thermal capacities for trough plants, and to estimate levelized electricity costs for optimized plant configurations with storage. The solar plant assumed in the analysis is the Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS)-type plant using VP-1 for the solar field heat transport fluid.