High precision and performance heliostat for variable geometry fields of Thermosolar Plants

Project Information

HELITE

Grant agreement ID: 718197

DOI

10.3030/718197

Project closed

EC signature date 16 February 2016

Start date 1 March 2016

End date 31 August 2016

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

TEWER ENGINEERING SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HELITE (High precision and performance heliostat for variable geometry fields of Thermosolar Plants)

Reporting period: 2016-03-01 to 2016-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The concentrated solar thermal accumulation in CSP makes it one of the most promising renewable alternatives to facilitate the management of the energy mix. The main application of CSP is the production of electricity, but its applications are wider and include, depending on the configuration, since heat input systems for desalination and industrial steam generation to photochemical reactors.
Among the possible actions to reduce the cost of energy production are reductions in CAPEX and OPEX of the solar field and, in turn, improving plant performance. About the 40% of the overall costs of a central tower solar plant corresponds to the solar field, which demonstrates the need to improve the relation between quality-cost from the heliostats. So that, this is the area in which cost reductions will lead to a bigger impact in reducing the cost of energy.
However, for this to become a reality, it is imperative that the solar field is as efficient as possible in both performance and cost, as well as the interrelationships of the pair solar field - receiver are optimized.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Tewer has proven that the existing solar fields and its performance are not properly optimised and, therefore, this is an important way to reduce the LCOE of tower technology solar plants..

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Tewer proposes a solution that will mean a spearhead in solar field optimisation, thus optimizing the costs of the solar field, making the technology more competitive. This proposal results in an effective optimisation of solar fields in such a way that the impact in the production and cost of the solar plant is positive and these changes lead to a competitiveness improvement.

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