Periodic Reporting for period 3 - CySTEM (Cyprus Solar Thermal Energy Chair for the Eastern Mediterranean)
Période du rapport: 2018-07-01 au 2020-12-31
The Cyprus Institute (CyI) Solar Thermal Energy chair for the Eastern Mediterranean (CySTEM) aimed at consolidating and upgrading the already substantial activity at CyI in Solar Energy, principally in Solar Thermal Energy and related technologies. This was accomplished by attracting and installing a cluster of outstanding researchers, led by a professor of international stature, to maximally utilize and upgrade the existing facilities, and pursue a program of excellence in Cyprus with local and regional focus in the region of Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME). The principal focus of the project was on Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) technologies for electricity production and desalination, used either in isolation or in multi-generation mode.
These technologies are of particular interest to Cyprus and the EMME region. They are one of the few renewable energy technologies, which are dispatchable. A Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant can easily and at very competitive costs (ten times lower than batteries in electricity terms) integrate thermal storage at large scale. CSP plants include a conventional power block. Thus, they can provide the typical ancillary services conventional plants provide and they profit from any technological progress in conventional power block technology. Furthermore, CSP plants can be hybridized with biomass or natural gas, if needed. The technical advantages of CSP plants makes them very interesting, particularly for applications in islands, such as Cyprus. They can act as the backbone of an electric energy system with a high percentage of PV, wind and other non-dispatchable renewable energy sources.
In addition to their technical advantages, CST technologies and in particular CSP plants have social and economic advantages. Their construction and operation involves the generation of a considerable number of jobs, and they typically have, because of their characteristics, a large fraction of local content. The latest plants that were built in Spain reached 80% local content.
Overall, the ERA Chair CySTEM project has created tremendous capacity both at the hosting institution (CyI) but also in the country in terms of knowledge, expertise, infrastructure and perspectives for further development and implementation of CST technologies.
These technologies are of particular interest to Cyprus and the EMME region. They are one of the few renewable energy technologies, which are dispatchable. A Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant can easily and at very competitive costs (ten times lower than batteries in electricity terms) integrate thermal storage at large scale. CSP plants include a conventional power block. Thus, they can provide the typical ancillary services conventional plants provide and they profit from any technological progress in conventional power block technology. Furthermore, CSP plants can be hybridized with biomass or natural gas, if needed. The technical advantages of CSP plants makes them very interesting, particularly for applications in islands, such as Cyprus. They can act as the backbone of an electric energy system with a high percentage of PV, wind and other non-dispatchable renewable energy sources.
In addition to their technical advantages, CST technologies and in particular CSP plants have social and economic advantages. Their construction and operation involves the generation of a considerable number of jobs, and they typically have, because of their characteristics, a large fraction of local content. The latest plants that were built in Spain reached 80% local content.
Overall, the ERA Chair CySTEM project has created tremendous capacity both at the hosting institution (CyI) but also in the country in terms of knowledge, expertise, infrastructure and perspectives for further development and implementation of CST technologies.
The most important results of the CySTEM project can be summarized as follows:
1) Increase of the specialization of the CyI SED Group in:
a)The development of concepts of small CST poly-generation systems aimed at islands, small isolated communities, and other niche markets based on solar tower technology.
b)The design of solar receivers as key components of the small CST poly-generation system concepts just referred.
c)The development of concepts of heat process applications and system concepts based on Linear Fresnel technology.
d)The development of advanced techniques for the characterisation of solar radiation and other environmental conditions of potential solar systems sites drawing upon the already established expertise in atmospheric modelling.
2) Enhancement of the in-house capabilities for:
a) Overall CST system modelling and analysis.
b) Basic and detailed design of solar receivers for solar tower technology.
c) Prototyping of receivers.
d) Testing of receiver prototypes and overall system configurations.
e) Cost assessment and techno-economic feasibility studies.
3) Establishment of the SED Group as a reference group at the international level by:
a) A considerable increase in the scientific productivity of the group
b) An increase in the linkages of the group to the international solar research community
c) Improved existing solar research capabilities by
d) Enhanced local outreach
e) Enhanced Knowledge Management practices and culture at the SED Group
1) Increase of the specialization of the CyI SED Group in:
a)The development of concepts of small CST poly-generation systems aimed at islands, small isolated communities, and other niche markets based on solar tower technology.
b)The design of solar receivers as key components of the small CST poly-generation system concepts just referred.
c)The development of concepts of heat process applications and system concepts based on Linear Fresnel technology.
d)The development of advanced techniques for the characterisation of solar radiation and other environmental conditions of potential solar systems sites drawing upon the already established expertise in atmospheric modelling.
2) Enhancement of the in-house capabilities for:
a) Overall CST system modelling and analysis.
b) Basic and detailed design of solar receivers for solar tower technology.
c) Prototyping of receivers.
d) Testing of receiver prototypes and overall system configurations.
e) Cost assessment and techno-economic feasibility studies.
3) Establishment of the SED Group as a reference group at the international level by:
a) A considerable increase in the scientific productivity of the group
b) An increase in the linkages of the group to the international solar research community
c) Improved existing solar research capabilities by
d) Enhanced local outreach
e) Enhanced Knowledge Management practices and culture at the SED Group
"The CySTEM ERA Chair project was designed with the expectations that the activities to be carried out by the ERA Chair and his research team within the framework of the project were going to be fully aligned with the Smart Specialisations Strategy (referred as S3Cy) established in April 2015 by the Republic of Cyprus. These expectations were fully accomplished. In the relevant document detailing the priorities for Cyprus’ economic development, ""Energy” is identified as a main priority and as one of the main areas of strategic specialisation of Cyprus’ for accelerated growth and prosperity. One of the main energy areas listed as of special interest for Cyprus is ""Solar Energy"" and specifically includes large-scale solar thermal systems, solar desalination, solar thermal energy for cooling and heating, and solar thermal energy storage systems.
The academic impact of the CySTEM project has been very relevant. The CySTEM ERA Chair and his research team focused, within the framework of the CySTEM project, on the development of software tools, patentable technological ideas, and experimental activities, which are all targeted to assist researchers in the exploration of advanced CST+DSW concepts, their design, testing and validation. They have also proposed new CST+DSW concepts, which have elicited the interest of other research organizations and companies around the world. The high-calibre researchers of the CySTEM team have intensified the scientific activity in the research fields of the SED Group (CST and Desalination) and have contributed to the spanning of a new group on “Energy Policy and Assessment”, which clearly complements the SED and the Sustainability and Built Environment (SBE) groups.
The CySTEM Team, led by the ERA Chair has initiated new research lines on:
- Open source development of software tools to assist in the modelling and optimization of CST systems,
- Multi-tower and multi-aiming systems solar tower systems in collaboration with the Solar Group of the Australian National University (ANU),
- Solar tower systems with hybrid CST-PV heliostats
- Operational optimizations of CST plants based on the use of Neural Networks and others AI technologies.
- Automatic generation of solar receiver geometries based on the use of AI approaches.
- UAV-based geometric characterization of solar reflectors
- UAV-based full optical characterization of solar concentrating systems
Through direct hiring, internships, training and educational activities, the CySTEM team created and improved opportunities for junior scientists and researchers. A clear success of the CySTEM project is the substantial increase of the international network of the SED Group during the project.
During the implementation of the CySTEM project, the Energy Division managed to attract a substantial number of top-level researchers. The CySTEM project has also contributed to enhance the research level of the whole SED Group. CySTEM has also contributed to the increase in patent applications. Finally, CySTEM has dramatically improved the research output of the SED Group and of the Energy Division at large, both in terms of quality and quantity.
The economic and market impact of the project has also been quite relevant. The CySTEM ERA Chair project has being instrumental in CyI providing advice to the Cyprus Government on different matters related to energy and innovation policies and activities; making the industrial sector and the society at large aware of the potential of Renewable Energy Technologies in general and CST technologies in particular to play a key role in the Energy Transition in Cyprus and the EMME region."
The academic impact of the CySTEM project has been very relevant. The CySTEM ERA Chair and his research team focused, within the framework of the CySTEM project, on the development of software tools, patentable technological ideas, and experimental activities, which are all targeted to assist researchers in the exploration of advanced CST+DSW concepts, their design, testing and validation. They have also proposed new CST+DSW concepts, which have elicited the interest of other research organizations and companies around the world. The high-calibre researchers of the CySTEM team have intensified the scientific activity in the research fields of the SED Group (CST and Desalination) and have contributed to the spanning of a new group on “Energy Policy and Assessment”, which clearly complements the SED and the Sustainability and Built Environment (SBE) groups.
The CySTEM Team, led by the ERA Chair has initiated new research lines on:
- Open source development of software tools to assist in the modelling and optimization of CST systems,
- Multi-tower and multi-aiming systems solar tower systems in collaboration with the Solar Group of the Australian National University (ANU),
- Solar tower systems with hybrid CST-PV heliostats
- Operational optimizations of CST plants based on the use of Neural Networks and others AI technologies.
- Automatic generation of solar receiver geometries based on the use of AI approaches.
- UAV-based geometric characterization of solar reflectors
- UAV-based full optical characterization of solar concentrating systems
Through direct hiring, internships, training and educational activities, the CySTEM team created and improved opportunities for junior scientists and researchers. A clear success of the CySTEM project is the substantial increase of the international network of the SED Group during the project.
During the implementation of the CySTEM project, the Energy Division managed to attract a substantial number of top-level researchers. The CySTEM project has also contributed to enhance the research level of the whole SED Group. CySTEM has also contributed to the increase in patent applications. Finally, CySTEM has dramatically improved the research output of the SED Group and of the Energy Division at large, both in terms of quality and quantity.
The economic and market impact of the project has also been quite relevant. The CySTEM ERA Chair project has being instrumental in CyI providing advice to the Cyprus Government on different matters related to energy and innovation policies and activities; making the industrial sector and the society at large aware of the potential of Renewable Energy Technologies in general and CST technologies in particular to play a key role in the Energy Transition in Cyprus and the EMME region."