Project description
A spherical concentrator mosaic slashes concentrated solar power costs
Concentrated solar power (CSP) systems focus the sun’s rays using mirrors or lenses. Typically, they have expensive and complex moving parts to control mobile trackers that enable mirrors to track the sun as it moves across the sky. These reflect and focus light onto a single stationary receiver at a significant distance. The EU-funded MOSAIC project has developed an innovative modular CSP plant based on a fixed mosaic of spherical concentrators. This approach aims at minimising both the number of moving parts and distances from concentrator to receiver, reducing capital costs and significantly increasing efficiency and reliability. It could bring the cost of CSP electricity below EUR 0.10/kWh exceeding the European Commission’s goals for CSP.
Objective
MOSAIC project aims to exceed the goal of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan - European Commission of producing CSP electricity at a cost below 0.10 €/kWh. To exceed this goal a commercial CSP plant of > 1GW of nominal capacity is foreseen, in which high nominal capacity of CSP plant is reached in a modular way where each MOSAIC module delivers thermal energy to linked thermal energy storage systems that supply their energy to a high capacity power block (>1GW). This modular configuration guarantees reliability, flexibility and dispatchability according to the needs of the electrical grid while reduces significantly the specific cost of the Power block (€/MW installed).
Each MOSAIC module consists of an innovative fixed spherical mirror concentrator arranged in a semi-Fresnel manner and an actuated receiver based on a low cost closed loop cable tracking system. This configuration reduces the moving parts of the whole system decreasing solar field cost while keeping high concentration ratios. This will assure high working temperatures thus high cycle efficiencies and a cost effective use of thermal storage systems.
Energy from the sun is collected, concentrated and transferred to the heat transfer fluid at module level where, due to the modular concept, distances from the solar concentrator to the receiver are much shorter that those typical from solar tower technologies. As a result, the efficiency of energy collection is maximized, atmospherical attenuation is minimized and accuracy requirements can be relaxed.
All these technical benefits contribute to a much lower capital cost of the whole system while keeping efficiency and reliability. This has consequently a strong impact in the final cost of electricity production. First figures show LCOE estimated values below 0.10€/kWh for CSP power plants of 100 MW nominal power based in MOSAIC concept, additional cost reductions are expected for greater capacities (>1GW) exceeding the goal of the SET plan
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectrical engineeringpower engineeringelectric power generation
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringthermodynamic engineeringheat engineering
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyconcentrated solar power
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
20600 Eibar Guipuzcoa
Spain