China tem a primeira planta de energia solar térmica de torre dupla do mundo: 30.000 espelhos, torres de 200 metros e 1,8 bilhão kWh/ano

China Has The World’s First Dual-Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant: 30,000 Mirrors, 200-Meter Towers, and 1.8 Billion kWh/Year

Written by Noel Budeguer

Published on 17/07/2024 at 19:36

Updated on 17/07/2024 at 19:37

China tem a primeira planta de energia solar térmica de torre dupla do mundo: 30.000 espelhos, torres de 200 metros e 1,8 bilhão kWh/ano

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Discover the First Dual-Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant in China, Which Increases Efficiency by 24% with 30,000 Mirrors and 200-Meter Towers. Clean Energy Generating 1.8 Billion kWh/Year

In Gansu Province, China, two 200-meter tall towers have been erected. Along with a set of 30,000 mirrors arranged in concentric circles, this new facility is expected to generate over 1.8 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.

Solar Thermal Energy: A Developing Alternative

Although most people associate solar energy with photovoltaic panels that directly convert sunlight into electricity, there is another method to harness solar energy that has been continuously developed since the early 1980s. Known as solar thermal energy or concentrated solar power (CSP), these systems rely on mirrors called heliostats to reflect sunlight to a central collection point. There, the concentrated rays heat a transfer fluid that, in turn, heats a working fluid. This fluid turns to vapor, spins a turbine, and generates electricity.

Evolution of Solar Thermal Plants

In 2014, the then-largest solar thermal power plant in the world opened in the Mojave Desert, United States. Known as the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, the facility consists of three towers surrounded by fields of heliostats and has a capacity of 392 megawatts. In 2017, Australia announced the construction of the largest single-tower solar thermal plant in the world, with a proposed capacity of 150 megawatts, although the project was canceled in 2019. Currently, the largest solar thermal plant in the world is the Noor Solar Complex, which operates in the Sahara Desert in Morocco and generates 510 megawatts of power annually.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Innovations in China

Now, according to a report by China Global Television Network (CGTN), the Three Gorges Group in China has announced another evolution in CSP. Like the facility in the United States, the Ghazhou solar thermal energy storage project will utilize multiple towers: in this case, two of them sharing the same steam turbine.

However, unlike the installation in the United States, where each tower is surrounded by its own heliostat field, the Chinese project will deploy a field of mirrors arranged in overlapping concentric circles. The mirrors will be able to track the sun’s path and reflect light to any of the towers in the most efficient way possible. It is an advancement that will significantly improve the efficiency of CSP, according to project manager Wen Jianghong.

Increased Efficiency

The mirrors in the overlapping area can be used by either of the towers. This configuration is expected to improve efficiency by 24%. Contributing to this efficiency is the fact that the mirrors used have a reflection efficiency of 94%, meaning that most of the solar energy that hits them is reflected toward the power-generating towers.

The two towers of the new plant, which is now 90% complete, will also employ a molten salt method to store heat during the day and release it at night, thus keeping the facility running continuously.

Contribution to Clean Energy

The new CSP system, which is expected to be operational by the end of this year, is set to join the surrounding photovoltaic panels and wind turbines at the facility to provide clean energy. As part of this green energy effort, the solar thermal power towers and mirror arrays are expected to save 1.53 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

You can see the plant up close in the following CGTN video.

Source: cgtn.com

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China Has The World’s First Dual-Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant: 30,000 Mirrors, 200-Meter Towers, and 1.8 Billion kWh/Year

Discover the First Dual-Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant in China, Which Increases Efficiency by 24% with 30,000 Mirrors and 200-Meter Towers. Clean Energy Generating 1.8 Billion kWh/Year

Solar Thermal Energy: A Developing Alternative

Evolution of Solar Thermal Plants

Innovations in China

Increased Efficiency

Contribution to Clean Energy

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China Has The World’s First Dual-Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant: 30,000 Mirrors, 200-Meter Towers, and 1.8 Billion kWh/Year

Discover the First Dual-Tower Solar Thermal Power Plant in China, Which Increases Efficiency by 24% with 30,000 Mirrors and 200-Meter Towers. Clean Energy Generating 1.8 Billion kWh/Year

Solar Thermal Energy: A Developing Alternative

Evolution of Solar Thermal Plants

Innovations in China

Increased Efficiency

Contribution to Clean Energy

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

Philippines begin construction of the country’s largest desalination plant in a city without enough fresh water to grow, and the 66,500 m³ per day plant will transform the sea into drinking water for 50,000 homes in 24 months with reverse osmosis technology from SUEZ and JEMCO.

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