SUMMARY

Receiver designs with different heat transfer mediums, namely, salt, gas, and particulate material are under development. High-temperature operations and cost-effective thermal energy storage (TES) can be achieved in particle heating receiver (PHR) based central receiver power tower (CRPT) systems compared to existing salt-heating systems. For these reasons and high solar irradiation (DNI) throughout the year in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, this study proposes to investigate and identify the best sites for small-scale PHR-based CRPT system deployment to provide electricity to off-grid remote locations in the MENA region.
This research aims to develop and apply a methodology for the techno-economic analysis (TEA) and geographic information system (GIS) based market potential study of PHR-based CRPT systems in the region. For sizing the system, optimum solar multiple (SM) and TES hours are found by performing TEA in SolarPILOT and SAM. To compare the economic feasibility, a useful economic criterion, Levelized Savings for Electricity (LSFE) is calculated by taking difference between Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of PHR-based CRPT system and LCOE of stand-alone diesel generators.
Suitable regions for PHR-CRPT sites are identified by excluding regions with higher slope, extensive urbanization, proximity to electric transmission lines, or other negative features. Favorable locales within the feasible region are identified by mapping the density of potential consumers, per capita electricity consumption and LSFE. Overall results of GIS-based multi criteria analysis are the maps showing favorable (higher savings) locales for investment in PHR-CRPT systems.