Scaling up solar hybrid gas turbine electric power system : simulation and results

Abstract

Scaling up Concentrating Solar Power(CSP)to larger power block sizesis an essential step to reduce unit investment cost, O&M costs, and increases performance. In the present paper a larger solar hybrid gas turbineof 50 MWis investigated wherebyannualperformances of different parts are estimated using a mathematical programimplanted in Visual Fortran 6.0. The selected location for the study is Hassi R’mel where the first solar power plant in Algeria has been built.The simulationresults show that thesolarhybrid gas turbineefficiency of up to 32% is possible, amongst the highest conversion efficiencies for the hybrid system. However, solar electricity ratioup to 85% are feasible; this leads to significant reductions in fuel consumptionof 2000 T/ year. This is the key motivation to follow this concept, although the technical integration of the receiver into the gasturbine is rather complex