skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: SMUD Kokhala power tower study

Book ·
OSTI ID:438661
 [1]; ;  [2]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (United States)
  2. Sacramento Municipal Utility District, CA (United States)

Kokhala is the name of a new hybridized power tower design which integrates a nitrate-salt solar power tower with a gas turbine combined-cycle power plant. This integration achieves high value energy, low costs, and lower investor risk than a conventional solar-only power tower plant. One of the primary advantages of this system is that it makes small power tower plants much more economically competitive with conventional power generation technologies. This paper is an overview of a study that performed a conceptual evaluation of a small (30 MWe) commercial plant suitable for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District`s (SMUD) Rancho Seco power plant site near Sacramento, California. This paper discusses the motivation for using a small hybrid solar plant and provides an overview of the analysis methodology used in the study. The results indicate that a power tower integrated with an advanced gas turbine, combined with Sacramento`s summer solar resource, could produce a low-risk, economically viable power generation project in the near future.

OSTI ID:
438661
Report Number(s):
CONF-9603117-; ISBN 0-7918-1765-2; TRN: IM9711%%122
Resource Relation:
Conference: 1996 American Society of Mechanical Engineers international solar energy conference, San Antonio, TX (United States), 31 Mar - 3 Apr 1996; Other Information: PBD: 1996; Related Information: Is Part Of Solar engineering 1996; Davidson, J.H. [ed.] [Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)]; Chavez, J. [ed.] [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)]; PB: 544 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

SMUD Kokhala Power Tower Study
Conference · Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997 · OSTI ID:438661

SMUD plans a [open quote]renewable[close quote] future. [Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)]
Journal Article · Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1994 · Fortnightly; (United States) · OSTI ID:438661

Hybrid power towers: A solar boost for natural gas in the Southwest
Journal Article · Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995 · Solar Industry Journal · OSTI ID:438661