First ever hybrid solar-coal power plant operating
July 12, 2010 by Lin Edwards
Colorado Integrated Solar Project
(PhysOrg.com) -- The first ever hybrid solar-coal power plant is now operating at Unit 2 of the Cameo Generating Station near Palisade in Colorado. The demonstration project was built by Xcel Energy as part of its new Innovative Clean Technology (ICT) Program, and is designed to decrease the use of coal, increase the plant’s efficiency, lower carbon dioxide emissions, and test the commercial viability of combining the two technologies.
The project was developed by Xcel Energy in conjunction with Abengoa Solar, which developed the solar parabolic trough technology that concentrates solar energy to produce heat. The demonstration project is expected to cut the use of coal at the power plant by around two or three percent, and could be scaled up to cut it by 10 percent.
The system works through a series of parabolic trough solar collectors made of glass mirrors. On sunny days the mirrors concentrate the solar radiation onto a line of receiver tubes filled with a heat transfer fluid (mineral oil). The solar energy heats the circulating oil to about 300°C (575°F). The heated oil is then fed to a heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to water to heat it to around 200°C (407°F) before it enters the boiler. Having hotter water entering the boiler means less coal is needed to heat it and produce the steam that turns the turbine to generate electricity.
Vice president of Xcel Energy, and chief supply officer, Kent Larson, said in a press release that if the project meets expectations it may help “move the use of solar energy one step closer to being a potential technology for improving the environmental performance of coal-fired power plants.”
CEO of Abengoa Solar, Santiage Seage, said the company believed the solar-coal combination would provide a cost-effective way of delivering solar energy.
Xcel Energy’s ICT Program is aimed at developing, commercializing and deploying new technologies for electricity generation, energy storage, and so on, to support the company’s clean energy strategy. Xcel Energy is a major utility company in the US, servicing 3.3 million electricity customers and 1.8 million natural gas customers.
Other companies are also developing or evaluating hybrid power generation plants to see if the combination can provide environmental benefits at a commercially viable cost. For example a group or companies have joined with the Electric Power Research Institute to study the feasibility of hybrid coal-solar plants in North Carolina and New Mexico, while in Florida NextEra Energy is developing a hybrid solar-natural gas plant.
More information: Colorado Integrated Solar Project
© 2010 PhysOrg.com
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Jul 12, 2010
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My father had parabolic troughs installed on his new house thirty years ago in 1980. The technology is not new. Dad had four parabolic troughs that tracked the sun from sunrise to sunset. The heat exchange liquid was water. The system provided hot water and heat and worked very well.
Jul 12, 2010
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Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 4.8 / 5 (4)
Riiiight...2-3% of the power output of a coal plant is saved and they rename it a solar energy power plant? They have GOT to be kidding.
I can see where the owners of coal power plants are starting to fear the solar competition and try to put a 'green' face on their smoke stacks - but this is ridiculous.
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (4)
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
http://en.wikiped...gen_bomb
We are already capable of making fusion bombs so we should succeed in developing a clean fusion reactor.
Jul 12, 2010
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So what are these utilities waiting for? Perhaps the coal supply companies have a hand in?
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Those of you who say "coal needs to be totally replaced, not 'helped' by solar" with today's technology are living in a dream world. I don't know about you, but I like to have lights and refrigeration at night, too.
Renewables sound great, but there are a lot of times when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine brightly. That's what your core energy production is for, or a cheap means of massive energy storage and recovery. These other things by themselves are fair weather friends, at best.
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Then wonder why France, Spain and Abu Dhabi own the technology now. (eg. this install is being done by a Spanish company)
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
http://en.wikiped..._Station
There you have a solar powerplant that can work under full steam through (the better part) of the night. Saying that solar/wind/waves/biogas is seasonal and prone to fluctuations is true. But combine them and some storage technologies which already exist - and are in operation (!) - and you have no power outage to fear.
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Great link, we really need to get off our asses and do the kind of stuff they are willing to try in Europe. We really have this "if it ain't broke don't fix it" attitude in the U.S.. Well, it's broke, time to fix it!
Jul 12, 2010
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Cut the price in half with a bigger installation to only a 50% price premium and the average guy in sunny locations can hopefully swallow it.
Back to the original story, supplementing one technology with another compatible one makes sense, no matter how modest you start.
Jul 12, 2010
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Jul 12, 2010
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http://solveclima...tandards
Jul 12, 2010
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Jul 12, 2010
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Jul 12, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Of course, you could do both. But it is amazing not just the temperature that can be achieved, but the amout of cooling that can be provided by radiating heat to the night sky. The location is high enough to make clouds and humidity less of a problem. (You will always get some useful cooling at night, the question is how much.) I have seen proposals to use a large heat sink--basically a large swimming pool filled with salt water and ice--for power generation. (It works all right, but most of these systems are used for air conditioning. That bypasses the electricity middleman.)
Jul 13, 2010
Rank: 4.5 / 5 (2)
Yes, but you forget one thing:
Coal/oil/nuclear will become more expensive all the time because the earth has a finite supply - but solar power will only get cheaper (or at WORST stay as expensive as it is right now). We need to switch over BEFORE we don't have the money to do so anymore because we need it all to buy fossil fuels.
And if you calculate the environmental impact and the cost of redressing all the damage done then coal, oil and nuclear are already FAR more expensive than solar. Currently we are just paying that in ways that you don't immediately associate with your energy bill (or we are simply letting future generations pay). That is not a correct way to calculate cost per kWh!
Jul 13, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
Jul 13, 2010
Rank: not rated yet
Your first argument is to spend more now because we may have to some day later, say in 200 years in the case of domestic coal.
To answer the second argument, the costs include environmental remediation. Remember that the 60's are now 40-50 years ago and there are thousands of people who make careers making sure it gets done, more than paid for by energy taxes.
Yes, over time "conventional" energy sources need to be phased out. It can't go on for ever. What we have is far cleaner than it was and we will continue to improve. Solar has a place and this is a good first step. Certainly there will be more to follow. Solar, wind, waves, bio-fuels all suffer from low energy density at their sources. Therefore they will be significantly more expensive for some time to come.
Jul 14, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Jul 15, 2010
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"Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." Well Mr. Obama, with most in the country living paycheck to paycheck, and so many lucky to have a paycheck at all, you provide a great reason to resist your plan. Neither do I believe in having one guy forced to pay another guy's electric bill.
Anyone who wants to put a solar or wind installation up themselves, I think is great. Guys buy expensive toys all the time. That would be a toy that's part-way practical, anyway. Have at it, more (expensive) power to you. But don't ask me to pay for a significant chunk of it.
Jul 16, 2010
Rank: 5 / 5 (1)
That's a contradiction in terms. Where do you think 'more power to you' comes from? Out of thin air? It comes from other people.
And all your argument boils down to is: Let other people switch over while you use up the environment - and then have THEM pay for the extra damage you caused.
Effectively you are not arguing for more power to them but for more power to you!
That's a bit...erm...bigoted.