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The PS10 Solar Power Plant ( es, Planta Solar 10), is the world's first commercial concentrating
solar power tower A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or 'heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's ra ...
operating near
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...
, in
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. The 11 
megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
(MW) solar power tower produces electricity with 624 large movable mirrors called
heliostat A heliostat (from ''helios'', the Greek word for ''sun'', and ''stat'', as in stationary) is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating f ...
s. It took four years to build and so far has cost €35 million (US$46 million). PS10 produces about 23,400 
megawatt-hour A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...
s (MW·h) per year, for which it receives €271 (US$360) per MW·h under its
power purchase agreement A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a contract between two parties, one which generates electricity (the seller) and one which is looking to purchase electricity (the buyer). The PPA defines all of the commercial te ...
, equating to a revenue of €6.3 million per year.


Suppliers

The mirrors were delivered by
Abengoa Abengoa, S.A. was a Spanish multinational company in the green infrastructure, energy and water sectors. The company was founded in 1941 by Javier Benjumea Puigcerver and José Manuel Abaurre Fernández-Pasalagua, and was based in Seville, Spain. ...
, the solar receiver was designed and built by , and the Solar Tower was designed and built by ALTAC, both Spanish engineering and construction companies.


Specifications

Each of the mirrors has a surface measuring that concentrates the sun's rays to the top of a 115-meter (377 ft) high, 40-story tower where a solar receiver and a steam turbine are located. The turbine drives a generator, producing electricity. The PS10 is located 20 km west of Seville (which receives at least nine hours of sunshine 320 days per year, with 15 hours per day in mid summer). The solar receiver at the top of the tower produces
saturated steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
at 275 °C. The
energy conversion efficiency Energy conversion efficiency (''η'') is the ratio between the useful output of an energy conversion machine and the input, in energy terms. The input, as well as the useful output may be chemical, electric power, mechanical work, light (radi ...
is approximately 17%.


Plans

PS10 is the first of a set of
solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
generation plants to be constructed in the same area that will total more than 300 MW by 2013. Power generation will be accomplished using a variety of technologies. The first two power plants to be brought into operation at
Sanlúcar la Mayor Sanlúcar la Mayor is a municipality in the province of Seville, southern Spain. The municipality is the location of the Solucar Complex. Gaspar de Guzmán, Count of Olivares was created Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor Duke of Sanlúcar la Mayor ( ...
are the PS10, and Sevilla PV, the largest low concentration system photovoltaic plant in Europe. 300 MW:
Completed and is operating: * PS10 (10 MW) *
PS20 The PS20 solar power plant (PS20) solar power plant is a solar thermal energy plant in Sanlucar la Mayor near Seville in Andalusia, Spain. It was the world's most powerful solar power tower until the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California b ...
(20 MW) * Solnova 1 (50 MW) * Solnova 3 (50 MW) * Solnova 4 (50 MW) total: 180 MW. Three more plants are planned: * AZ20 (20 MW) * Solnova 2 (50 MW) * Solnova 5 (50 MW) Total 120 MW. PS20 and AZ20 are twin 20 MWe tower plants based on the same concept as PS10.


Energy storage

The PS10 solar power tower stores heat in
tanks A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...
as superheated and pressurized water at 50  bar and 285 °C. The water evaporates and flashes back to steam, releasing energy and reducing the pressure. Storage is for 30 minutes. It is suggested that longer storage is possible, but that has not been proven in an existing power plant. However, there are many considerations for using
molten salt Molten salt is salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but enters the liquid phase due to elevated temperature. Regular table salt has a melting point of 801 °C (1474°F) and a heat of fusion of 520 J/g.Journal of Chemical Th ...
as an
energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...
medium due to the great capability of storing energy for long periods without substantial losses (see Concentrated solar power). Another possibility is to use a
phase-change material A phase change material (PCM) is a substance which releases/absorbs sufficient energy at phase transition to provide useful heat or cooling. Generally the transition will be from one of the first two fundamental states of matter - solid and liq ...
as thermal storage where
latent heat Latent heat (also known as latent energy or heat of transformation) is energy released or absorbed, by a body or a thermodynamic system, during a constant-temperature process — usually a first-order phase transition. Latent heat can be underst ...
is used to store energy.


See also

*
List of solar thermal power stations This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power. Operational Under construction Announced Cancelled Decommissioned * Eurelios pi ...
*
Renewable energy in the European Union Renewable energy plays an important and growing role in the energy system of the European Union. The Europe 2020 strategy included a target of reaching 20% of gross final energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020, and at least 32% by 203 ...
*
Solar power in Spain Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production. In 2018, the cumulative total solar power installed was 7,011 MW, of which 4,707 MW were solar ...
*
Solar thermal energy Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United S ...
*
Solucar Abengoa Solar (formerly Solúcar Energía) is a subsidiary of Abengoa. Its primary activities include designing, promotion, financing attainment, construction and operation of solar power stations that use photovoltaics, concentrated photovoltaic ...


References


External links


Final technical progress report
for
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...
officials (November 2006)
Power station harnesses Sun's rays



Power tower reflects well on sunny Spain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ps10 Solar Power Tower Solar power stations in Spain Solar thermal energy Energy development Energy in Andalusia