Concentrating Solar Power for Utility Scale Projects

1
Introduction

• Concentrating Solar Power for Utility Scale
  Projects
• Dr. Fred Morse
• Chairman, CSP Division, SEIA
• and
• Consultant to US Department of Energy

2
Objectives

• To present to the ACC Commissioners a technical
  overview of Concentrating Solar Power as a
  utility scale option for Arizona
• To answer questions about this solar option
• To provide background of the WGA Solar Task
  Forces recommendations and the Southwestern
  Utility CSP Consortium

3
Topics

• What is CSP and why should you care?
• What is the CSP potential and where are the
  optimal sites in Arizona?
• What does CSP cost today, what is projected for
  the future, and how credible is that projection?
• What is the SW Utility CSP Consortium?
• Any benefits to Arizona from CSP deployment?
• WGA Solar Task Force policy recommendations.

4
CSP Options for Large-Scale Power
5
CSP Technology

• Some of these technologies use curved mirrors to
  focus the suns rays and to make steam, others
  directly produce electricity.
• This steam is used to produce electricity via
  conventional power equipment.
• In multi-Megawatt plants, CSP provides the lowest
  cost solar electricity.

6
CSP Characteristics

• Distributed Power
• (kWs to MW's)
• on-grid (e.g., line support)

• Dispatchable Power
• (50s to 100s of MW's)
• Utility-scale intermediate power
• Peaking power where appropriate

CPV
Troughs Towers
Dishes
Dispatchability of Electricity Through storage
or hybridization Conventional technology
Generally, made of glass, steel, gears, turbines,
etc. allows rapid manufacturing scale-up, low
risk
7
Trough Technology

• Trough Collectors (single axis tracking)
• Heat-Collection Elements
• Heat-transfer oil (Therminol VP1)
• Oil-to-water Steam Generator
• Oil-to-salt Thermal Storage
• Conventional steam- Rankine cycle power block

8
Operating Central Station Systems

• The Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) at
  Kramer Junction, CA (SEGS III-VII)
• Five 30MW hybrid trough plants for a total of
  150MW Capacity
• Commissioned 1986-1988
• Performance has increased with time
• Four additional SEGS plants located in two
  locations (Daggett, Harper Lake) for combined
  total of nine plants and 354 MW capacity

9
CSP Has Worked for California Reliably for 15
Years

• Averaged 80 on-peak capacity factor from solar
• Over 100 with fossil backup
• Could approach 100 from solar with the addition
  of thermal energy storage.

CA Energy Crisis
Mount Pinatubo Volcano
SCE Summer On-Peak Weekdays Jun - Sep 12 noon -
6 pm
10
1-MW Arizona Trough Plant
11
64 MWe Solargenix Solar Electric Plant Boulder
City, NV
12
6-Dish/Stirling Prototypes - Sandia
13
Attributes of CSP

• Hedge against NG volatility and carbon caps
• LCOE is known and fixed for 30 years
• Well suited for utility scale installations of
  100 MW
• CSP can provide firm dispatchable output
• Utilities understand solar steam generation

14
Value of Dispatchable Power?Meeting Peak Power
Demand
Hourly Load
Solar Resource

• Storage provides
• decoupling of energy collection and generation
• lower costs because storage is cheaper than
  incremental turbine costs
• higher value because power production can match
  utility needs

Generation w/ Storage
15
Arizonas CSP potential and optimal sites

• CSP requires the direct beam component of the
  suns energy something that Arizona has a lot
  of.
• CSP also requires currently unproductive flat
  land something that Arizona also has a lot of.
• Using only the top 20 of the intensity of the
  solar energy, Arizonas CSP technical potential
  in the hundreds of GW a truly impressive
  in-state energy resource
• Considering transmission access, it is possible
  to identify many optimal sites in the state
• Mark Mehos will elaborate on these points

16
CSP Cost Today and Tomorrow

• Like any utility scale power plant, CSP cost
  depends on many variables.
• If all are favorable, LCOE today is in the mid
  teens in c/kWh for firm dispatchable power and
  could drop to the low teens with existing
  incentives.
• Current cost gap is 5-6 c/kWh.
• Several independent and credible studies project
  8 c/kWh (nominal) after 4GW installed thereby
  eliminating this cost gap.
• Mark Mehos will provide details.

17
SW Utility CSP Consortium

• LCOE is lower from one 250 MW CSP plant than five
  50 MW CSP plants in five locations.
• 12 SW utilities are exploring some kind of
  aggregation to realize this benefit.
• Seek to gain operational experience with CSP and
  contribute to cost reduction.
• Barbara Lockwood, APS will provide report on
  status and plans of this group.