ABB has launched what it is calling a new concept for turnkey concentrating solar power plants based on a low-cost, efficient and highly scalable technology that uses considerably less material, land and water.It is manufacturing its new package in conjunction with Novatec Solar’s patented Fresnel-based CSP technology. Based on Novatec Solar’s energy storage technology, the power units should use 70% less material, require 40% less land and consume 80% less water per megawatt generated compared to conventional parabolic trough designs.
Moreover, the plants’ low construction and operation costs serve as motivating incentives for global deployment, bringing into play a number of factors including the use of standard materials such as sheet steel and flat glass mirrors, the automated mass production of key components in locally erected production facilities, what the manufacturer describes as a fast and accurate assembly process, highly efficient land use, and a robotic cleaning system that uses very little water. Potential applications include standalone or hybrid power plants, and as fuel savers in existing power plants, in desalination and district cooling plants, and in industrial processes that require steam such as enhanced oil recovery.
The unit’s strength is its simplicity, leading to low cost, rapid construction in remote locations and low susceptibility to damage. Its built-in quality control is made possible by industrial robot manufacturing processes.
