Solar Power Tower: An Alternative Method to Power Egypt

Abstract

In the past decade, Egypt has been experiencing an energy crisis due to its growing population and constant increase in energy demand. To deal with this energy crisis, Egypt has invested heavily in large fossil fuel power plants which contributed to the country’s growing air pollution problem. Egypt has only recently started to focus on its abundant renewable energy resources, particularly solar energy. The country’s hot arid climate renders it a perfect candidate for utilizing solar energy. Primarily, two types of utility-scale solar energy technologies exist, solar photovoltaics (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP). Thus far, Egypt has focused its energy investment on solar PV technology. Yet, due to Egypt’s all-year-round hot dry climate, large-scale centralized PV power generation might not be Egypt’s most ideal option for power generation.

In view of the above, this research evaluated the use of CSP technologies for large-scale centralized power generation in Egypt, particularly solar power tower systems. It focused on developing a conceptual design and a performance study for a solar power tower system. Emphasis was on assessing potential sites for the plant as well as undertaking a cost analysis for its construction and operation. Moreover, this research examined the effects of changing the height of a solar tower on the system’s optical efficiency as well as the impacts of varying the receiver size on the system’s energy output. Additionally, this research also compared and contrasted a potential design of a solar power tower system with a solar PV plant in Benban solar park.

I hypothesized that a solar power tower system would be the most efficient and feasible solar energy technology for energy generation in Egypt. To test this hypothesis, the research design was structured in six phases. The first phase involved data collection and analysis. Phase two compared possible CSP systems that could potentially be implemented in Egypt. The third phase evaluated four potential sites for a prospective CSP power plant. The fourth and fifth phases involved developing a preliminary design as well as optimizing a solar power tower system. The final phase of the research entailed a comparative analysis of the final optimized design and the Benban solar park.

In conclusion, this research determined that the solar power tower system is one of the most efficient CSP systems in the market. It also determined that Benban is not only a good candidate for utilizing PV systems but also CSP systems due to the prevailing environmental conditions, land terrain, and proximity to the grid. Furthermore, I concluded that by increasing the receiver size, the optical efficiency increases while the average incident flux decreases. The study also confirmed that there is an optimal tower height for the solar field to attain the highest average incident flux, mainly dependent on the solar field size, heliostats, receiver type, and size. Finally, the comparative analysis revealed that for the same nameplate capacity plant, a solar power tower system would produce more energy over its lifespan when compared to a PV system. Although the solar power tower system is the most efficient solar energy technology for energy generation in Egypt, PV systems are more economically feasible than solar power tower systems. However, it was determined that with a specified feed-in tariff scheme, a solar power tower with a 6-hour storage system is economically competitive with a solar PV system having the same nameplate capacity.