Analysis of CSP plants for the definition of energy policies: The influence on electricity cost of solar multiples, capacity factors and energy storage

Salvador Izquierdo, Carlos Montañés, César Dopazo and Norberto Fueyo

Energy Policy, 2010, vol. 38, issue 10, 6215-6221

Abstract: The effect on the cost of electricity from concentrating solar power (CSP) plants of the solar multiple, the capacity factor and the storage capacity is studied. The interplay among these factors can be used to search for a minimal-cost objective that can serve as a technical criterion to guide in the design of economic incentives for CSP plants. The probability-density function of irradiation is used in conjunction with screening models to evaluate the performance characteristics and costs of concentrating solar power plants. Two technologies have been analyzed in this study: parabolic-trough and tower plants. The results provide information to define the optimal operational range as a function of the desired objective. Thus, it is possible to derive a technical criterion for the design of CSP plants which optimizes the solar electricity produced and its generation cost. The methodology is applied to Spain, and the analysis of the results shows that a solar energy production of 37Â kWh/m2/year for tower plants and 66Â kWh/m2/year for parabolic-trough ones define the approximate optimal working conditions for the mean DNI in Spain.

Keywords: Solar; energy; Concentrating; solar; power; Feed-in; tariff (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(10)00472-6
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:10:p:6215-6221

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().