Solar-Augment Potential of U.S. Fossil-Fired Power Plants

Technical Report · Tue Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1006246· OSTI ID:1006246

Turchi, C; Langle, N; Bedilion, R; Libby, C

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) systems utilize solar thermal energy for the generation of electric power. This attribute makes it relatively easy to integrate CSP systems with fossil-fired power plants. The 'solar-augment' of fossil power plants offers a lower cost and lower risk alternative to stand-alone solar plant construction. This study ranked the potential to add solar thermal energy tocoal-fired and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) plants found throughout 16 states in the southeast and southwest United States. Each generating unit was ranked in six categories to create an overall score ranging from Excellent to Not Considered. Separate analysis was performed for parabolic trough and power tower technologies due to the difference in the steam temperatures that each cangenerate. The study found a potential for over 11 GWe of parabolic trough and over 21 GWe of power tower capacity. Power towers offer more capacity and higher quality integration due to the greater steam temperatures that can be achieved. The best sites were in the sunny southwest, but all states had at least one site that ranked Good for augmentation.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1006246
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-5500-50597
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
03 NATURAL GAS
14 SOLAR ENERGY
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
AUGMENTATION
CAPACITY
COMBINED CYCLES
CONSTRUCTION
COST
CSP
ELECTRIC POWER
ENERGY
FOSSILS
HAZARDS
NATURAL GAS
PLANTS
POTENTIALS
POWER
POWER PLANTS
STEAM
UNITS
hybrid
solar
solar-augment