Economic Analysis of Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Power Generation

Although the global solar technology is usually concentrated solar photovoltaics, we are also constantly looking for information to provide readers with useful related technology and infrastructure issues. CSPToday has just published a comprehensive report entitled "Costs and Performance of Trough Concentrated Solar Power Generation" (CSP Parabolic Trough Report—Costs and Performance).

The authors interviewed more than 45 executives from companies involved in concentrated solar power (CSP), including senior managers from developers, component manufacturers, EPCs, and research laboratories. The team also collected cost data from respondents, such as water costs, insurance, and labor. The data was collated through the Solar Advisory Model (SAM), a model developed by the US Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the final results and analysis report were reviewed by scientists from CIEMAT, developers (Abengoa Group), and industry associations (Protermosolar).

Installation market of parabolic trough CSP plants

There are 26 power stations in total, 12 of which are in the United States and 11 in Spain. Spain has built 1,200 MW, plus 600 MW under construction, so the total is the world leader. The United States is second with 800 MW built and 1,200 MW under construction, but the United States plans to build 10.9 GW in the future, which is more than the next 10 countries combined.

(Planned installation capacity of CSP power stations, unit: megawatt)

Why is it installed

The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is significantly lower than traditional solar photovoltaics, with CSP at 0.15-0.24 euros/kWh and photovoltaics at 0.25-0.325 euros/kWh. In addition, thermal energy can be easily stored to help balance supply and demand.

What is LCOE and how is it calculated?

LCOE is calculated according to the International Energy Agency's simplified method (see International Energy Agency (IEA), Guidelines for the Economic Analysis of Renewable Energy Technology Applications (1991)) using the Euro as currency. Formula 1 shows how to calculate LCOE

Optimal factory size

One of the challenges of CSP plants is their inherently high per capita cost. However, conventional power plants suffer from high operating costs due to their reliance on fossil fuels, so the operating costs of parabolic troughs are very competitive. According to the model used in this report, the optimal plant size is about 150 MW.