The Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about 70 miles (110 km) southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013. When commissioned it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage. Built by the Spanish company Abengoa Solar, it has a total capacity of 280 megawatts (MW) gross, from two 140 MW gross (125 MW net) steam turbine generators, which is enough to power 70,000 homes while avoiding around 475,000 tons of CO2 every year. Its name is the Spanish term for "sunny spot".
Video Solana Generating Station
Technology
The plant employs a proprietary concentrating solar power (CSP) trough technology developed by Abengoa, and covers an area of 1,920 acres (780 ha). Construction was expected to create about 1,500 construction jobs with the plant employing 85 full-time workers. Solar thermal plants use substantially more water for cooling than other solar generating technologies. Nevertheless, the Sierra Club supports the Solana plant, because it will be built on private land, and use "75 to 85 percent less water than the current agricultural use."
Maps Solana Generating Station
Economics
Arizona Public Service (APS) has contracted to purchase 100% of the power output generated from Solana, to meet the Arizona Corporation Commission's (ACC) mandate that the state's regulated utilities provide 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. APS will pay about 14 cents per kWh. The Solana plant was originally planned to open in 2011 and was estimated to cost $2 billion. In December 2010, Abengoa received a $1.45 billion loan guarantee to support construction of the plant.
Energy storage
One of the principal advantages of concentrated solar thermal (CST) is that thermal energy storage can be provided efficiently, so that output can be provided after the sun goes down, and output can be scheduled to meet demand requirements. The Solana Generating Station is designed to provide six hours of energy storage. This allows the plant to generate about 38 percent of its rated capacity over the course of a year.
Production
Solana Generating Station's production is as follows.
Projected full production is 944,000 MW·h (994 GW·h). At the end of the second full year of operation, the Solana Generating Station is still operating 25 percent below the projected full production value.
Operations issues
In the summer of 2017, the plant had two transformer fires. As a result, the plant's output was cut by more than half of its expected output for the year. The Phoenix New Times described the state of the Solana plant as "problems keep appearing like black clouds to dampen its performance." The plant also went through some other challenging issues. For example, Maricopa County environmental officials are looking into whether the plant violated air pollution standards. In 2016, Maricopa County fined the plant $1.5 million for violations of air quality standards. According to the Phoenix New Times, "The plant's parent company, a subsidiary of Abengoa called Atlantica Yield, downplayed the issues, and a company representative said that better times are likely ahead."
The plant opened in 2014 and has suffered a number of problems since its opening. According to government documents, the plant should be producing more than 900,000 MWh every year. This amount of electricity could power about 65,000 typical homes in Arizona. However, the plant produced only 600,000 MWh in its first full year of operation, according to information from the Federal Energy Information Administration. In 2015, the output increased to 700,000 MWh. In the summer of 2016, a microburst "knocked out the plant that July."
See also
- Energy storage
- List of energy storage projects
- Solar power in Arizona
- SEGS, nine solar power plants in California's Mojave Desert.
References
Further reading
- Wald, Matthew L. Arizona Utility Tries Storing Solar Energy for Use in the Dark, The New York Times, October 18, 2013, p. B1 (New York edition); also published online at NYTimes.com on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2013. Discusses BrightSource Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, Ivanpah Solar Power Facility project, and the Solana Generating Station project.
External links
- "Solana Generating Station Project". Abengoa Solar Inc. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- "APS :: Solana - Arizona's Largest Solar Power Plant". Arizona Public Service (APS). Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- Arizona Utility to Buy Power from a 280-Megawatt Solar Power Plant
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments