Optimal configurations and operations of concentrating solar power plants under new market trends

Enes Keyif, Michael Hornung and Wanshan Zhu

Applied Energy, 2020, vol. 270, issue C, No S0306261920305924

Abstract: It is a challenge for investors to decide optimal configurations and operations of a concentrating solar power plant because of the new market trends, namely that the governments no longer offer secured and fixed tariff schemes regulated by Power Purchase Agreements, nor do they continue to provide subsidy over the power plant’s entire life. The concentrating solar power plant must adjust configurations and operations to address market price variation and subsidy decrease. This study presents a non-linear optimization model that captures the critical component investment costs and operational flexibility in the plant configuration. We use it to analyze economies of scale, thermal energy storage, economic curtailment, and hybrid systems with wind plant, and to evaluate their impact on plant configuration decisions under the new market trends. First, we find that the economic performance of the concentrating solar power plant, despite market price variation and subsidy decrease, can be enhanced substantially by optimal configurations and operations flexibility, which improve the overall plant utilization. Second, compared to the traditional fixed tariff scheme, the market-price-based tariff scheme can yield substantially higher net present value for the plant investment, due to the optimal configurations and flexible operations. Finally, our sensitivity analyses show that the optimal plant configurations are significantly affected by market price variations and the constraints of transmission line capacity.

Keywords: Concentrating solar power; Optimal configurations; Operations flexibility; Payment scheme; Economies of scale; Capital constraint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115080

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