聚焦式太阳能发电技术简介（英文版）_30页_675kb

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Summary

Core Content

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is a technology that uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver, generating heat and steam to produce electricity via a conventional thermodynamic cycle. Unlike solar photovoltaics (PV), CSP relies on the direct normal irradiance (DNI) component of sunlight and is most effective in Sun Belt regions, which include the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, the southwestern United States, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Australia, India, Western China, southern Europe, and Turkey. These regions have high DNI values, making them ideal for CSP deployment.

CSP plants can be equipped with thermal storage systems to generate electricity even at night or during cloudy periods. This storage capability significantly improves the capacity factor and dispatchability of CSP, enhancing its grid integration and economic competitiveness. However, the cost of thermal storage increases the capital expenditure, creating a trade-off between storage capacity and cost.

Main Technologies and Their Characteristics

CSP includes four main technologies:

• Parabolic Trough (PT): The most commercially mature and dominant CSP technology. Mirrors focus sunlight onto a focal line, using synthetic oil, steam, or molten salt as heat transfer fluids. PT plants typically have a capacity range of 14–80 MWe, with efficiency between 14–16% and a capacity factor of 25–30%. With thermal storage, these values can increase to over 40% and 70%, respectively. PT is expected to see significant cost reductions by 2015 and 2020.

• Fresnel Reflector (FR): Similar to PT but uses flat or slightly curved mirrors. It has lower manufacturing and installation costs but lower optical efficiency. FR plants are still in the demonstration phase and have limited commercial deployment.

• Solar Tower (ST): Uses a large number of heliostats to focus sunlight onto a single receiver at the top of a central tower. ST plants can achieve higher operating temperatures (up to 565°C with molten salt) and are being developed for high storage capacity. They are expected to be more economically competitive in the long term.

• Solar Dish (SD): Utilizes a parabolic dish-shaped concentrator to focus sunlight onto a receiver, which can be a Stirling engine or micro-turbine. SD systems are modular and suitable for distributed generation, but they are not yet commercially deployed and have higher electricity generation costs.

Key Advantages and Applications

• CSP can generate both electricity and high-temperature heat, useful for industrial processes, water desalination, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
• CSP can be integrated with existing fossil fuel-based power plants, replacing part of the steam generated from fuel combustion.
• CSP has the potential to be a carbon-free energy source, contributing to the reduction of CO₂ emissions.
• CSP is particularly suitable for water desalination in arid regions, with cost estimates suggesting competitiveness in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) at USD 0.5/m³.

Cost and Market Status

• As of 2012, global installed CSP capacity was about 2 GW, with an additional 15–20 GW under construction or planned.
• CSP is currently more expensive than PV and conventional power plants, with investment costs ranging from USD 4,200–8,500 per kW.
• Cost reductions are expected due to technology learning and economies of scale, with projections of a 15% decline by 2015 and 30–50% by 2020.
• The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for PT plants ranges from USD 200–330/MWh, while ST plants range from USD 170–240/MWh with storage.

Barriers and Challenges

• CSP requires high DNI values and is therefore limited to specific geographic regions.
• Water scarcity in Sun Belt regions necessitates the use of dry cooling systems, which are more expensive and less efficient than wet cooling.
• The deployment of CSP is still in its early stages and requires policy support for market formation.
• Thermal storage systems, while beneficial, increase capital costs and complexity.

Future Outlook

• With continued technological advancements and larger plant deployments, CSP is expected to become economically competitive with coal- and gas-fired power by 2020.
• The IEA estimates that CSP could reach 150 GW of global installed capacity by 2020 and 350 GW by 2030.
• CSP has significant potential for local value addition through component production, services, and operation and maintenance, creating job opportunities.
• CSP could become a key renewable energy source for electricity generation and desalination, especially in Sun Belt regions with high DNI and water needs.