Objective
The aim of this project is the implementation of a first large-scale European parabolic trough power plant of 50 MWe nominal capacity to be designed, permitted and erected over a 4 years period. With this project it is intended to demonstrate the maturity of large-scale parabolic trough power plants under European energy-economic and operating conditions and to offer, underlined by its sheer unit size, a significant renewable technology able to respond to the Commission's challenging climate policy targets for 2010. With its implementation it is also intended to qualify and strengthen European companies with expertise in the field of solar field component engineering and manufacturing, to revive and reorganise the industrial supplier's network, and thus to set up an experienced, strong and devoted supply consortium which is able to respond to the customer's needs for a reliable technology, secured spare part supply and adequate maintenance. The creation of such a European suppliers group also aims at being a qualified prime candidate for the supply for future solar thermal power plants of the parabolic trough type as they are envisaged through the World Bank's Solar Initiative in various developing countries in the sunbelt of the world. The aim to successfully implement this very first European parabolic trough power plant of significant size will place European industry and research organizations into a prime position for similar power plant developments in the sunbelt. Through the collaboration of several utility companies it will be secured that the design of this first European solar thermal demonstration plant comforts the utilities' needs and will be a show-case for subsequent project plans.
Major accomplishments were:
- Formed on 25 November 1998, the THESEUS S.A. a Greek private shareholding company established in Chania, Crete to lead the commercial development of the THESEUS project.
- Submitted on 18 February, 1999 (subsequent to Phase 1) the application to obtain the Permit of installation from the Greek National Ministry of Development. This submission was by the Theseus S.A. and received the ministerial file number 2833/18-2-1999 (document available in Greek and English).
- Completed the site, solar field and power plant conceptual engineering design and issued the Design Report.
- Accelerated discussions with potential equity investors and project development participants concerning development funding and commercial issues.
- Subsequent to the Phase 1 reporting period, on 29 January 1999, a project development contract was signed with the executing arm of a major German investment fund, the Solar Millenium Management GmbH, Erlangen. This uncludes the commitment of the fund to raise the majority of the equity of the THESEUS project.
- Met with local politicians and land owners for updates on the new THESEUS project company, to solicit their continued support and guidance, and to make progress on negociations of land use rights.
The proposed THESEUS project consists of a nominal 50 MWe net solar power plant with an advanced parabolic trough collector field as the primary heat source. The proposed site is on the southern coast of Crete. The power block is a conventional Rankine cycle reheat steam turbine with its associated balance of plant equipment. The solar field energy source is supplemented with an LPG-fired heater to supply steam during start up and conditions of low solar insolation. Full turbine output can be achieved in any of three modes of operation - solar only, heater only or the hybrid mode. The system will deliver 50 MWe net at full load based on the LS-3 parabolic troughs used at the 80 MWe SEGS plant in California but improved by a number of innovative features developed over the last few years. The supplementary heater will utilize LPG, which will be shipped to Crete and transported on the sea to the site. The site was selected based on solar power plant siting requirements, regional electric load demand requirements and acceptable proximity to water and electric transmission infrastructure. Plant cooling will be accomplished with sea water.
Performance projections were carried out using the PILKSOLAR performance model, PERSOL, based on the selected configuration and estimated insolation data for the site. Cost and economic projections were based on the results of these steps and cost data from the California SEGS projects as well as more recent feasibility studies. The project cost is estimated at 2196 ECU/kW and the levelized electricity cost at 79.5 ECU/MWh. (All cost are based on the following exchange rates : 1 ECU = 1.95 DM, 1 USD = 1.8 DM). All aspects will be reviewed and refined in the phase 1 Design Work.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energysolar thermal
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Call for proposal
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DEM - Demonstration contractsCoordinator
50667 KOELN
Germany