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
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is a concentrated solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert. It is located at the base of Clark Mountain in California, across the state line from Primm, Nevada. The plant has a gross capacity of 392&n ...
in California became operational in 2014. The 20
megawatt (MW)
solar power tower produces electricity with 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 ...
s.
Construction of PS20 was started in 2006 and it commenced operation in 2009. It features several significant technological improvements over the earlier
PS10
The PS10 Solar Power Plant ( es, Planta Solar 10), is the world's first commercial concentrating solar power tower operating near Seville, in Andalusia, Spain. The 11 megawatt (MW) solar power tower produces electricity with 624 large movabl ...
. These include a receiver with higher efficiency, various improvements in the control and operational systems, and a better thermal
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 ...
system.
"PS20 consists of a solar field of 1,255 mirrored heliostats designed by Abengoa Solar. Each heliostat, with a surface area of , reflects the solar radiation it receives onto the receiver, located on the top of a tower, producing steam which is converted into electricity by a turbine generator."
"The remaining power plants will be built over the next few years. They will include low- and high-concentration photovoltaic, tower thermoelectric, parabolic-trough collector and Stirling dish plants. Abengoa Solar's parabolic trough plants,
Solnova 1, 3 and 4, which can generate 150 MW of power, are under construction at the
Solar Platform
The Solucar Complex is a complex in Sanlúcar la Mayor, Spain, used primarily for solar power developments.
The complex includes:
* PS10 Solar Power Plant
* PS20 Solar Power Plant
* Solnova Solar Power Station
Plans
PS10 is the first of a set ...
."
Resulting from cooperation between
Ciemat, the
IDAE, and the
University of Seville, the whole plant is to be completed by 2013, when it will produce approximately 300 MW – energy for around 180,000 homes, equivalent to the needs of the city of Seville.
PS20 produces about 48,000
megawatt-hours (MW·h) per year, for which it receives €271 (US$360) per MW·h under its
power purchase agreement.
See also
*
List of solar thermal power stations
*
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 ...
*
Solucar
References
External links
*
Telvent develops control system for new solar power plants in SevilleFinal technical progress report
for European Union officials (November 2006)
Power station harnesses Sun's raysPower tower reflects well on sunny Spain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ps20 Solar Power Tower
Solar power stations in Spain
Solar thermal energy
Energy development
Energy in Andalusia