A Detailed Techno-Economic Analysis of Gas Turbines Applied to Concentrated Solar Power Plants With Central Receiver

Abstract

This work presents a very detailed techno-economic analysis of the technology, made up of two complementary models. A performance model implemented in Thermoflex environment is used to explore alternative integration layouts in order to enable the simultaneous operation on solar and fossil energy. Then, a detailed cost analysis calculates the capital and operation costs of the plant from the engineering, procurement and construction standpoints. These two models are then combined in annual simulations to obtain the final levelized cost of electricity (LCoE) from which a solid conclusion about the true potential of solar gas turbines can be ascertained. A sensitivity analysis with respect to the main boundary conditions is also provided. The results confirm that LCoE in the order of 14 c€/kWh can be obtained when running the plant during sun hours (daily operation), yielding almost 70% annual solar share and for a fuel cost of 8 €/MBTU. In a higher fuel cost scenario (12 €/MBTU), this cost rises to almost 17 c€/kWh whereas it decreases to 10.5 c€/kWh if fuel costs are 4 €/MBTU. The different sensitivity analyses performed highlight the very strong regional effect on LCoE, not only for direct normal irradiance (DNI) but also for the largely variable local labor costs.