What is believed to be the first ever hybrid solar-coal power plant is now operating at unit 2 of the Cameo power plant near Palisade in Colorado, USA. The demonstration project was built by Xcel Energy as part of its Innovative Clean Technology (ICT) programme, and is intended to reduce the coal burn, increase the plant’s efficiency, lower carbon dioxide emissions, and test the commercial viability of combining the two technologies.
The CSP project was developed by Xcel Energy in conjunction with Abengoa Solar, which developed the solar parabolic trough technology that concentrates solar energy to produce heat. The project is expected to cut the use of coal at the power plant by around two or three percent, and could be scaled up to cut it by 10 percent.
Abengoa's system works by concentrating solar energy through a series of parabolic trough collectors made of glass mirrors that direct the solar radiation on to receiver tubes filled with a mineral oil heat transfer fluid. Its temperature rises to about 300°C (575°F) before it is sent to a heat exchanger to heat boiler make-up water to around 200°C (407°F).
Vice president of Xcel Energy, and chief supply officer, Kent Larson, said that if the project meets expectations it may help “move the use of solar energy one step closer to being a potential technology for improving the environmental performance coal-fired power plants” a view shared by the CEO of Abengoa Solar, Santiage Seage, who said the company believed the solar-coal combination would provide a cost-effective way of delivering solar energy.
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