IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i11p2719-d1407931.html

Techno-Economic Assessment of Molten Salt-Based Concentrated Solar Power: Case Study of Linear Fresnel Reflector with a Fossil Fuel Backup under Saudi Arabia’s Climate Conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Ahmed Aljudaya

    (Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Najran University, King Abdulaziz Road, Najran P.O. Box 1988, Saudi Arabia)

  • Stavros Michailos

    (School of Engineering, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK)

  • Derek B. Ingham

    (Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK)

  • Kevin J. Hughes

    (Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK)

  • Lin Ma

    (Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK)

  • Mohamed Pourkashanian

    (Energy 2050, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK
    Energy 2050, Translational Energy Research Centre (TERC), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK)

Abstract

Concentrated solar power (CSP) has gained traction for generating electricity at high capacity and meeting base-load energy demands in the energy mix market in a cost-effective manner. The linear Fresnel reflector (LFR) is valued for its cost-effectiveness, reduced capital and operational expenses, and limited land impact compared to alternatives such as the parabolic trough collector (PTC). To this end, the aim of this study is to optimize the operational parameters, such as the solar multiple (SM), thermal energy storage (TES), and fossil fuel (FF) backup system, in LFR power plants using molten salt as a heat transfer fluid (HTF). A 50 MW LFR power plant in Duba, Saudi Arabia, serves as a case study, with a Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) above 2500 kWh/m 2 . About 600 SM-TES configurations are analyzed with the aim of minimizing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). The analysis shows that a solar-only plant can achieve a low LCOE of 11.92 ¢/kWh with a capacity factor (CF) up to 36%, generating around 131 GWh/y. By utilizing a TES system, the SM of 3.5 and a 15 h duration TES provides the optimum integration by increasing the annual energy generation (AEG) to 337 GWh, lowering the LCOE to 9.24 ¢/kWh, and boosting the CF to 86%. The techno-economic optimization reveals the superiority of the LFR with substantial TES over solar-only systems, exhibiting a 300% increase in annual energy output and a 20% reduction in LCOE. Additionally, employing the FF backup system at 64% of the turbine’s rated capacity boosts AEG by 17%, accompanied by a 5% LCOE reduction. However, this enhancement comes with a trade-off, involving burning a substantial amount of natural gas (503,429 MMBtu), leading to greenhouse gas emissions totaling 14,185 tonnes CO₂ eq. This comprehensive analysis is a first-of-a-kind study and provides insights into the optimal designs of LFR power plants and addresses thermal, economic, and environmental considerations of utilizing molten salt with a large TES system as well as employing natural gas backup. The outcomes of the research address a wide audience including academics, operators, and policy makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed Aljudaya & Stavros Michailos & Derek B. Ingham & Kevin J. Hughes & Lin Ma & Mohamed Pourkashanian, 2024. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Molten Salt-Based Concentrated Solar Power: Case Study of Linear Fresnel Reflector with a Fossil Fuel Backup under Saudi Arabia’s Climate Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-29, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:11:p:2719-:d:1407931
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2719/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2719/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aly, Ahmed & Bernardos, Ana & Fernandez-Peruchena, Carlos M. & Jensen, Steen Solvang & Pedersen, Anders Branth, 2019. "Is Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) a feasible option for Sub-Saharan Africa?: Investigating the techno-economic feasibility of CSP in Tanzania," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1224-1240.
    2. Poghosyan, V. & Hassan, Mohamed I., 2015. "Techno-economic assessment of substituting natural gas based heater with thermal energy storage system in parabolic trough concentrated solar power plant," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 152-164.
    3. Montes, María J. & Rubbia, Carlo & Abbas, Rubén & Martínez-Val, José M., 2014. "A comparative analysis of configurations of linear Fresnel collectors for concentrating solar power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 192-203.
    4. Alshammari, Yousef M., 2021. "Scenario analysis for energy transition in the chemical industry: An industrial case study in Saudi Arabia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    5. Vignarooban, K. & Xu, Xinhai & Arvay, A. & Hsu, K. & Kannan, A.M., 2015. "Heat transfer fluids for concentrating solar power systems – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 383-396.
    6. Zhao, Zhen-Yu & Chen, Yu-Long & Thomson, John Douglas, 2017. "Levelized cost of energy modeling for concentrated solar power projects: A China study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 117-127.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ji, Chang & Yang, Xueming & Xu, Haiqi & Lai, Jintong & Xie, Jianfei, 2026. "Advances in molten salt-based nanofluids: Thermal property enhancement and applications in CSP and power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PC).
    2. Ghazi M. Magableh & Mahmoud Z. Mistarihi & Saba Abu Dalu, 2025. "A Hybrid MCDM Approach to Optimize Molten Salt Selection for Off-Grid CSP Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-39, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ephraim Bonah Agyekum & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Festus Victor Bekun & Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Manoj Kumar Panjwani, 2021. "Effect of Two Different Heat Transfer Fluids on the Performance of Solar Tower CSP by Comparing Recompression Supercritical CO 2 and Rankine Power Cycles, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Hoz, Jordi de la & Martín, Helena & Montalà, Montserrat & Matas, José & Guzman, Ramon, 2018. "Assessing the 2014 retroactive regulatory framework applied to the concentrating solar power systems in Spain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1377-1399.
    3. Gutiérrez-Alvarez, R. & Guerra, K. & Haro, P., 2023. "Market profitability of CSP-biomass hybrid power plants: Towards a firm supply of renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    4. Okeke, C.J. & Egberibine, P.K. & Edet, J.U. & Wilson, J. & Blanchard, R.E., 2025. "Comparative assessment of concentrated solar power and photovoltaic for power generation and green hydrogen potential in West Africa: A case study on Nigeria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    5. Yao, Lingxiang & Guan, Zhiwen & Wang, Yang & Hui, Hongxun & Luo, Shuyu & Jia, Chuyun & You, Xingxing & Xiao, Xianyong, 2025. "Evaluating the feasibility of concentrated solar power as a replacement for coal-fired power in China: A comprehensive comparative analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PA).
    6. Xiaoru Zhuang & Xinhai Xu & Wenrui Liu & Wenfu Xu, 2019. "LCOE Analysis of Tower Concentrating Solar Power Plants Using Different Molten-Salts for Thermal Energy Storage in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, April.
    7. Bai, Zhang & Liu, Qibin & Lei, Jing & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2017. "New solar-biomass power generation system integrated a two-stage gasifier," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 310-319.
    8. Abbas, R. & Martínez-Val, J.M., 2017. "A comprehensive optical characterization of linear Fresnel collectors by means of an analytic study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1136-1151.
    9. Sara Benyadry & Mohammed Halimi & Ahmed Khouya, 2024. "Soiling impact and cleaning techniques for optimizing photovoltaic and concentrated solar power power production: A state-of-the-art review," Energy & Environment, , vol. 35(3), pages 1637-1669, May.
    10. Cibelle Pereira Trama & Amaro Olímpio Pereira Júnior & Ana Paula Cardoso Guimarães & André Luiz Diniz & Leonardo dos Santos Reis Vieira, 2021. "Cost–Benefit Analysis of Solar Thermal Plants with Storage in a Hydrothermal System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-27, September.
    11. Zhang, Shengchun & Wang, Zhifeng & Wu, Zhiyong & Bai, Fengwu & Huang, Pingrui, 2019. "Numerical investigation of the heat transport in a very loose packed granular bed air receiver with a non-uniform energy flux distribution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 987-998.
    12. Sadeghi, Shayan & Ghandehariun, Samane, 2022. "A standalone solar thermochemical water splitting hydrogen plant with high-temperature molten salt: Thermodynamic and economic analyses and multi-objective optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    13. Nawaz Edoo & Robert T. F. Ah King, 2021. "Techno-Economic Analysis of Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Plus Battery Power Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, December.
    14. Delise, T. & Tizzoni, A.C. & Menale, C. & Telling, M.T.F. & Bubbico, R. & Crescenzi, T. & Corsaro, N. & Sau, S. & Licoccia, S., 2020. "Technical and economic analysis of a CSP plant presenting a low freezing ternary mixture as storage and transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    15. Zhao, Yawen & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2017. "Optimization of the solar field size for the solar–coal hybrid system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1162-1172.
    16. Fuquan Zhao & Feiqi Liu & Han Hao & Zongwei Liu, 2020. "Carbon Emission Reduction Strategy for Energy Users in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-19, August.
    17. Rômulo de Oliveira Azevêdo & Paulo Rotela Junior & Luiz Célio Souza Rocha & Gianfranco Chicco & Giancarlo Aquila & Rogério Santana Peruchi, 2020. "Identification and Analysis of Impact Factors on the Economic Feasibility of Photovoltaic Energy Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-40, September.
    18. Bravo, Ruben & Ortiz, Carlos & Chacartegui, Ricardo & Friedrich, Daniel, 2021. "Multi-objective optimisation and guidelines for the design of dispatchable hybrid solar power plants with thermochemical energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PB).
    19. Alberto Giaconia & Irena Balog & Giampaolo Caputo, 2021. "Hybridization of CSP Plants: Characterization of a Molten Salt Heater for Binary and Ternary Nitrate Salt Mixtures Fueled with Gas/Biogas Heaters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    20. Mostafavi Tehrani, S. Saeed & Shoraka, Yashar & Nithyanandam, Karthik & Taylor, Robert A., 2019. "Shell-and-tube or packed bed thermal energy storage systems integrated with a concentrated solar power: A techno-economic comparison of sensible and latent heat systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 887-910.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:11:p:2719-:d:1407931. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.