Technical and Financial Viability of a 1 MW CSP Power Plant with Organic Rankine Module: Case Study for a Northeastern Brazilian City

Abstract

In this study, a 1 MWe parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant using an Organic Rankine Cycle to convert thermal power into electricity was simulated. The solar data used is from Fortaleza, the capital city of Ceara, a state in the northeast region of Brazil. The simulation was year-round and used hourly acquired data. Several different configurations differing in number of collectors and size of thermal energy storage were considered and, by the end of the study, according to the technical and financial results, one best configuration was defined. With a net annual energy generation of 4815.50 MWh, a 12.08% total efficiency and a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 186.98 US$/MWh, the best defined configuration was the one with 100 collector assemblies and 48 MWh storage system. Besides that, the capital and OM costs of the various components were compared to define the most expensive to the power plant, being the collectors acquisition the biggest cost, which represents 74% and 58% of capital and OM costs respectively.