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SET-Plan - SOLAR THERMAL ELECTRICITY EUROPEAN INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVE (STE-EII)

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 2013-2015

12 December 2013

Approved by the SEII Team

2

Solar Industrial Initiative for STE – Implementation plan 2013-2015

INDEX

INDEX ....................................................................................................................................... 2

GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................ 4

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 6

I – ACHIEVEMENTS IN R&D SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE SET-PLAN (2007) ........................... 8

1. THE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP

FOR

SOLAR THERMAL ELECTRICITY ....................................................... 8

BJECTIVE 1: REDUCTION OF GENERATION, OPERATION AND MAINTAINANCE COSTS ...................................... 8

O

BJECTIVE 2: IMPROVEMENT OF OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND ENERGY DISPATCHABILITY ............................. 9

O

BJECTIVE 3: IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT ........................................................... 10

O

BJECTIVE 4: ADVANCED CONCEPTS AND DESIGNS .................................................................................. 10

O

OMMENTS ON ECONOMIC SUPPORT IN THE LAST PERIOD ........................................................................ 10

C

2. ANALYSIS

OF RESOURCES .......................................................................................................... 11

NDUSTRY .......................................................................................................................................... 11

I

ATIONAL AND REGIONAL PROGRAMMES IN SPAIN ................................................................................. 11

N

EIGHBOURHOOD INVESTMENT FACILITY (NIF) ...................................................................................... 12

N E

UROPEAN INVESTMENT BANK (EIB) .................................................................................................... 13 THER EUROPEAN UNION FUNDING SOURCES ....................................................................................... 14

O

II – PROSPECTS FOR EU INDUSTRY ......................................................................................... 17

1. IN

THE

EU ............................................................................................................................. 17

T

HE SITUATION IN SPAIN ..................................................................................................................... 17

T

HE SITUATION IN ITALY ...................................................................................................................... 18

T

HE SITUATION IN FRANCE................................................................................................................... 19

T

HE SITUATION IN OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.................................................................................... 19

2. OUTSIDE 3. OTHER

THE

EU .................................................................................................................... 20

INITIATIVES .................................................................................................................. 21

III – THE STE EUROPEAN INDUSTRY INITIATIVE ...................................................................... 23

1. R&D PROJECTS ...................................................................................................................... 23

NCREASE EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE COSTS .............................................................................................. 23

I

NCREASE DISPATCHABILITY .................................................................................................................. 25

I

MPROVE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE ................................................................................................ 26

I

L

ARGE TEST FACILITES FOR CONCEPT VIABILITY ........................................................................................ 26

2. INNOVATION

IN

3. INNOVATIONS

FUTURE STE PLANTS

IN

IN

SOUTHERN EUROPE........................................................... 28

FUTURE COMMERCIAL PROJECTS DEVELOPED

BY

EUROPEAN COMPANIES

IN

THIRD

COUNTRIES ............................................................................................................................... 31

European Solar Thermal Electricity Association

Solar Industrial Initiative for STE – Implementation Plan 2013-2015

IV BUDGET SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 35

V KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ........................................................................................ 37

VI RELATIONS WITH OTHER INDUSTRIAL INITIATIVES ............................................................ 40

1. THE EUROPEAN ELECTRICITY GRID INITIATIVE (EEGI) ..................................................................... 40 2. THE STORAGE TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP ...................................................................................... 40 3. THE ROADMAP

ON

TURBOMACHINERY 2014-2020 ...................................................................... 40


3

4


GLOSSAR Y AFD

Agence Française de Développement

CAES

Compressed Air Energy Storage

CAPEX

Capital Expenditure

CCS

Carbon Capture and Storage

CSP

Concentrated Solar Power

DII

Desertec Industrial Initiative

DNI

Direct Normal Irradiation

EASE

European Association for the Storage of Energy

EEGI

European Electricity Grid Initiative

EERA

European Energy Research Alliance

EIB

European Investment Bank

EII

European Industrial Initiative

ENP

European Neighbourhood Policy

ERANET

European Research Area Network

ESTELA


EU

European Union

EUMENA

Europe, Middle East, North Africa

HTF

Heat Transfer Fluid

FiT

Feed-in-Tariff

FP6

6

th

th

Framework Programme

FP7

7

Framework Programme

GW

Gigawatt

HVDC

High Voltage Direct Current

ISCC

Integrated Solar Combined-Cycle

KfW

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

KPI

Key Performance Indicator

kWh

Kilowatt per hour

LCOE

Levelised Cost Of Electricity

MENA

Middle East and North Africa

MoU

Memorandum of Understanding

MSP

Mediterranean Solar Plan



MW

Megawatt

MWe

Megawatt of electricity

NER300

New Entrant Reserve 300

NIF

Neighbourhood Investment Facility

OPEX

Operating Expenditure

PPA

Power Purchase Agreement

R&D

Research and Development

RES

Renewable Energy Sources

SEII

Solar European Industrial Initiative

SET-Plan

Strategic Energy Technology Plan

SRA

Strategic Research Agenda

STE

Solar Thermal Electricity

TSO

Transmission System Operator

UfM

Union for the Mediterranean


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6


INTR ODUCT ION

In this document, a new version of the Implementation Plan of the Solar Thermal Electricity European Industrial Initiative (STE-EII) is presented. Information on solar thermal electricity plants development in the

last

few

years and updates on

the

achievements

of

the

objectives described

in

the

previous

implementation plan covering the period 2010-2012 are provided as well.

The former version of this document, covering the period 2010-2012, was mainly based on the current supporting Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) framework in Spain which resulted in more than 2,000 MW installed representing a 70% share of the total power installed at world level.

In this sense, innovation was classified according to the type of plants, such as plants already in operation or

plants

with FiT

approved but

in

construction or

promotion

phase.

Additionally, new

projects with ambitious objectives related to a wide deployment of STE in the MENA region were also considered.

The budget for this innovative effort was assessed to 7,000 M€. The STE industry was expecting at that time new financial mechanisms which would have been established as a contribution of the SET-Plan in terms of grants, soft loans and risk sharing.

Even

though

the

projects

planned

in

the

MENA

region

began

to

be

promoted

more

slowly

than

predicted and that the SET-Plan did not provide any new support mechanism to the industry during this period,

European

companies

and

research

centres

kept

on

contributing

to

STE

technological

development, with incremental improvements, benefiting essentially on the ongoing programmes in Spain to reach the 2,300 MW of STE installed capacity by 2013, together with smaller initiatives in other countries.

Nevertheless, the situation has drastically changed in Spain since the beginning of 2012, when the moratorium on supports to renewable electricity generation plants has been decreed. This moratorium includes solar thermal electricity, cutting the short term expectations on a continuous STE development in Europe, as Spain was supposed to be the main contributor of STE power according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAP).

Additionally, the approval of projects with FiT in Spain was given in 2009 for projects designed in 2007 and planned to enter in operation until 2013. This unusual regulation framework did not facilitate the progress along the cost learning curve as significant innovations could not be incorporated during this period. Thus, only incremental innovations have been implemented in the commercial parabolic trough plants with thermal oil, which was the selected concept in 95% of the cases as banks prefer proven projects. Nevertheless, the first conceptually different plants, such as towers with molten salt receivers, linear Fresnel reflectors with direct steam generation or parabolic troughs using molten salt as heat transfer fluid, have been built.

For these reasons, the STE-EII needs a complete revision, which is the objective of this document.



The fundamental guidelines for the European Solar Thermal Electricity Implementation Plan are:

1. R&D projects in line with the priorities defined in the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA); 2. Innovations in future STE plants in southern Europe exchanges

between

Member

States

foreseen

by

the

within the framework of green electricity

Directive

2009/28/EC

on

Renewable

Energy

Sources. Other initiatives under purely national supporting frameworks will be considered as well;

3.

Innovations in future commercial plants developed by European companies in third countries with

which the EU maintains cooperation agreements.

This document is based on these three points, with the confidence that the SET-Plan will be able to bring new financial supporting tools and institutional endorsement to make it possible.

Puerto Errado 1 plant, Linear Fresnel Technology, Murcia, Spain (NOVATEC)


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8


I – ACH IEVEMEN TS IN R &D SINCE THE BEG INNING OF TH E SET PLAN (2007)

1. The Technology Roadmap for Solar Thermal Electricity The

Technology

1

Roadmap

elaborated

in

2009

dedicates

a

chapter

on

the

EII

for

Solar

Thermal

Electricity. This chapter defined the actions to be undertaken for each of the four objectives listed below. An analysis of the achievements of these objectives is done here:

O B J E C T I V E 1 : R E D U C T I O N O F G E N E R A T I O N , O PE R A T I O N A N D M A I N T A I N A N C E CO S TS

Topics

Achievements

1.1 Development and test of new components with

Incremental improvements in all these

increased efficiency and reliability (high temperature

identified elements have been achieved so

joints, new collector designs, improved absorber tubes,

far.

new reflector solutions, improve pumps and valves, improved the power block and instrumentation)

1.2 Decrease the heat losses in the receiver

New coatings and absorber designs have been developed.

1.3 Reduction of optical losses by increased mirror

Both mirror reflectivity and absortivity have

reflectivity and improved receiver absorption

been slightly increased.

1.4 More efficient cycles and receivers:

Improvements on steam turbines have been

– high efficiency air receivers

implemented. Molten salt receivers have

– high pressure, high efficiency steam receivers

been developed and research in steam and air receivers is going on.

1.5 Operation with heat transfer fluids at higher

This has been achieved in STE tower plants

temperatures

and in the Archimede molten salt parabolic trough plant.

1.6 Development and testing of new, more economic

Important reductions on component costs

components i.e. high temperature joints, absorber

have been achieved as the result of new

tubes, new reflector solutions and collector design,

designs and scale factors.

pumps and power blocks, as well as heat transfer fluids

1

SEC(2009) 1295 of 7 October 2009, Commission Staff Working Document, accompanying document to

the Communication on ‘Investing in the Development of Low Carbon Technologies (SET-Plan)’ - A Technology Roadmap.



1.7 Identification, development and assessment of

Research on substitution of thermal oil by

alternative heat transfer fluids with lower costs, low

salt, steam or gas is going on. New

environmental impact and a wide operation range

stoichiometries for molten salts are being studied.

1.8 Optimize and improve the monitoring and

Companies did a great effort on forecasting

communication technologies for the control, operation

and improvement of control systems to

and maintenance of STE power plants, as well as

optimize the operation with good results.

developing operation strategies and prediction tools to better facilitate grid integration.

O B J E CT I VE 2 : IM PR O VE ME N T O F O PE R AT I ON AL F L E X I B I L I T Y A ND E N E R G Y D I S P AT C HA B I L I T Y

Topics

Achievements

2.1 New and improved concepts and materials for heat

The molten salt two-tank concept has

energy storage and heat transfer systems will be

demonstrated total reliability. Other concepts

developed and tested (transfer fluids, filler materials,

like single tank with integrated heat exchanger

change of phase systems, molten salts, ultra

or phase change concepts are in prototype

capacitors, etc.) and implemented in large-scale

phase.

demonstration plants

2.2 New process design and operating modes

No significant achievements in this respect

2.3 Hybridisation of solar energy with other renewable

One large commercial plant is already in

energy sources (mostly biomass)

operation. The first 22 MW commercial plant 50% solar/50% biomass was connected to the grid in the province of Lerida (Spain) in December 2012 (see picture below).

2.4 Development of control systems for monitoring

Great attention is being paid to reduction of

the consumption curves

auxiliary consumptions.

Borges Termosolar plant, biomass unit, Lleida, Spain (ABANTIA)


9

10


O B J E CT I VE 3 : I M PR O VE ME N T O F T H E E NV I R O NM E NT A L F O OT PR I N T

Topics

Achievements

3.1 New approaches to reduce water

No new conceptual approaches to reduced water

consumption, e.g. through innovative use of an

consumption have been implemented. All efforts

organic Rankine cycle coupled with conventional

are focused on alternative cooling systems.

steam cycle

3.2 Develop and demonstrate dry cooling systems

Some commercial plants have already used dry cooling systems.

3.3 Develop and demonstrate STE-specific

The MATS project (desalination unit coupled with

sustainable water desalination and purification

a STE pilot plant) can be mentioned in this regard.

processes

3.4 Integration of low-polluting materials

The focus is on the substitution of the classic HTF oil in parabolic trough plants. Molten salts, Direct Steam Generation and compressed gasses can be mentioned in this regard.

3.5 Better utilisation of available land through

Some advances have been achieved in the design

new design strategies

of more compact heliostat fields by disregarding the staggered configuration in the rows close to the tower.

O B J E C T I V E 4 : A D V A N C E D CO N C E P T S A N D D E S I G N S

A longer term R&D programme aimed at supporting

The Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of ESTELA

the longer term STE industry development (beyond

is the first attempt to achieve this goal. The

2020) will focus on advanced concepts and systems,

contribution to the Horizon 2020 programme

as well as innovative approaches to the critical

will be highly appreciated.

major components

CO M M E NT S ON E CO N OM I C S U P PO R T I N T HE L A S T PE R I O D

Regarding investments in innovation, the previous version of the STE-SEII was elaborated relying on the implementation of new financing mechanisms (grants, soft loans and risk sharing mechanisms) under the umbrella of the SET-Plan.

As this has not been the case, it is not possible to compare with the investment figures of the previous version of the STE-EII document.

The total investment for the construction of the 50 STE plants in Spain was close to 14,000 M€ in the period 2009-2013. The financial effort for innovation during this period has been mainly provided by the companies to perform incremental improvements on the 50 commercial plants constructed in Spain. The total cost of this effort can be estimated to be 500 M€.



11

In addition, companies and research centres have jointly or independently carried out R&D projects under the umbrella of Regional, National or European frameworks. A roughly estimation of this effort would be 1,000 M€.

2. Analysis of resources I N DU S T R Y

During the last three years, many efforts coming from private investors have led the STE sector in Spain and Germany to take off and brought to the commercial playground the numerous plants currently connected to the grid. These private resources triggered the expansion of the market and allowed the setup of innovative plants, such as the advanced configuration of Gemasolar or PS10 for instance. Unluckily, governmental measures went on and dealt a severe blow to the sector.

N AT I O N A L AN D R E G I O N AL PR O G R A M ME S I N S PA I N

2

NATIONAL:

The Renewable Energy Plan:

The Renewable Energy Plan (PER) 2011-2020 sets out a series of proposals aiming to boost the RES sector in Spain. Among them are the establishment of supportive legal frameworks, the development of energy

infrastructures

technological

point

of

and

actions

view,

for

planning,

components

promotion,

manufacturing,

information

improvement

of

and

training.

storage

From

systems

a

and

hybridisation with other technologies allowing a reduction of costs and a secure penetration of the solar thermal

sector in

the

electric system

are the

main keys. The

document imposes the objective of

reaching 2,521 MW of STE installed capacity in 2013 and 4,800 MW in 2020.

The National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation 2013-2016:

This is a tool used by the Spanish system related to Science, Technology and Industry to comply with the objectives and priorities of the Spanish R&D policy in the mid-term. It introduces the basic principles for R&D actions - putting all R&D activities available to citizens, improving industrial competitiveness and promoting R&D - as a basis for generating knowledge. In relation to energy, the objective is to develop a sustainable system supplied with indigenous resources.

Call for Innovative Projects from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism:

In 2010, the Spanish Ministry published a call for innovative STE projects. The plants belonging to the approved projects should begin to put electricity into the grid between January 2014 and July 2015.

2

Identificación de las principales líneas de investigación en el sector de la electricidad termosolar,

Plataforma Tecnológica de la Energía Solar Térmica de Concentración, Solar Concentra, 2012


12


Among the proposals for big scale plants, the 50 MW plant Alcázar, presented by Solar Reserve (United States) and Preneal (Spain) has been approved. To date, no small installation has been retained.

REGIONAL:

In Andalusia, a programme for promoting industrial innovation and development has been launched. This incentive is financed by the ‘Global Subvention Innovation-Technology-Industry’ of Andalusia 20072013, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and incorporated in the ERDF operative programme of Andalusia 2007-2013, ending on 31 December 2013.

N E I G H B O U R H O O D I N V E S T M E N T F A CI L I T Y ( N I F )

3

Officially launched in May 2008 and implemented by the Europe Aid Development and Cooperation Directorate-General of the European Commission, the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) is an innovative financial instrument of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), whose primary objective is to finance with a mix of grants and loans key infrastructure projects in the transport, energy, social and environment sectors, as well as to support private sector development in the Neighbourhood Region.

The NIF is aimed at creating a ‘partnership’, pooling together grant resources from the EU Budget and the EU Member States and using them to leverage loans from European Finance Institutions as well as own contributions from the ENP partner countries. Accordingly, to receive a grant contribution from the NIF, a project must be financed by an eligible European Finance Institution.

Virtual aerial view for the Ouarzazate Solar Complex, Morocco (ACWA POWER) Credits: MASEN

3

Taken from the Operational Annual Report 2011 on the Neighbourhood Investment Facility, European

Commission (http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/regionalcooperation/irc/documents/annual_report_2011_nif_en.pdf)



13

The first phase of the Ouarzazate Solar Plant in Morocco will benefit from this programme: This project is the first phase of the Moroccan Solar Plan launched in November 2009 with the objective to develop solar power generation and related local industry with a target capacity of a minimum of 2,000MW to be installed by 2020. This initial project concerns the development of a 500 MW solar power complex (both STE and PV) located approximately 10 km Northeast of Ouarzazate. The NIF (grant of 30 M€), together with loans from EIB (loan of 100 M€), AFD (loan of 100 M€) M€), co-finances the initial investments aiming between

125

(estimated

and

total

160

cost

MW of

using

about

parabolic

€630

trough 4

million )

and KfW (loan of 115

at building a STE plant with a production capacity

so

technology. far

This

co-financed

is by

the the

largest NIF

in

energy the

project

Southern

Neighbourhood. It is fully in line with the NIF strategic objectives and falls within the Mediterranean Solar Plan.

The tender of the project has been awarded to a Consortium led by the Saudi company ACWA Power with a minor participation of the Spanish companies Aries and TSK. The Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) of the plant is carried out by ACCIONA, SENER and TSK, a consortium of Spanish companies.

E U R O P E A N I N VE S T M E N T B A N K ( E I B )

The EIB provided loans for the following projects:

Before 2012:

After 2012:

- Andasol I and II (2 x 50 MW), Spain: 230 M€

- Ouarzazate I (Parabolic Trough): Morocco: 100 M€

5

- PS10 – PS20 (11 and 20 MW), Spain: 80 M€

- Khi Solar One Project (Central Receiver) , South Africa: 50 M€

- Solnova I and III (2 x 50 MW), Spain: 110 M€

- Ashalim Solar Thermal Plant (Central Receiver), Israel: 150 M$ -

- Gemasolar (17 MW), Spain: 90 M€

currently under appraisal

SOLUGAS central receiver in operation, Sevilla, Spain (ABENGOA)

4

5

http://phys.org/news/2013-05-morocco-solar-mega-project-ouarzazate.html

See chapter ‘Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF)’


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O T H E R E U R O P E A N U N I O N F U N D I N G S O U R CE S

NER300 The NER300 funding programme was adopted with Commission Decision C(2010)7499 for the financing of commercial CCS and innovative renewable energy technologies demonstration

projects, under the

scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading established by the Directive 2003/87/EC.

The NER300 programme has selected four STE projects:

- HELIOS POWER (Parabolic Dishes), Cyprus - MAXIMUS (Parabolic Dishes), Greece - MINOS (Central Receiver), Greece - PTC50-Alvarado (Central Receiver), Spain

However, most likely the Spanish project (50 MW hybrid tower plant, with molten salt and biomass hybridisation) will not be constructed as the FiT system is not in place anymore. The other projects still need to reach financial closings which might be not so easy under the current circumstances in these countries.

R&D projects: Ongoing in FP7 - BIOSTIRLING-4SKA (A cost effective and efficient approach for a new generation of solar dish Stirling plants based on storage and hybridisation) - COMETHY (Compact Multifuel-Energy To Hydrogen converter) - CSP2 (Concentrated solar power in particles) - HITECO (New solar collector concept for high temperature operation in CSP applications) - HYSOL (Innovative configuration for a fully renewable hybrid CSP plant) - MACCSOL (The development and verification of a novel modular air cooled condenser for enhanced concentrated solar power generation) - OMSOP (Optimised Microturbine Solar Power system) - OPTS (Optimisation of a thermal energy storage system with integrated steam generator) - RESTRUCTURE (Redox materials based structured reactors/heat exchangers for thermo-chemical heat storage systems in CSP plants) - SOL2HY2 (Solar To Hydrogen Hybrid Cycles) - STORRE (High temperature thermal energy storage by reversible thermochemical reaction) - TCSPOWER (Thermochemical energy storage for CSP plants)



Past projects in FP7 - E2PHEST2US (Enhanced energy production of heat and electricity by a combined solar thermionicthermoelectric unit system) - MED-CSD (Combined solar power and desalination plants: technico-economic potential in Mediterranean partner countries)

Past projects in FP6 - DISTOR (Energy Storage for Direct Steam Solar Power Plants) - ECOSTAR (European Concentrated Solar Thermal Road-Mapping) - EURODISH (Reducing the cost of dish Stirling systems) - HYDROSOL II (Solar Hydrogen via Water-Splitting in Advanced Monolithic Reactors for Future Solar Power Plants) - SOLFACE (High Flux SOLar FACilities for Europe) - SOLHYCARB (Hydrogen from solar thermal energy: high temperature solar chemical reactor for coproduction of hydrogen and carbon black from natural gas cracking) - SOLHYCO (Solar-Hybrid Power and Cogeneration Plants) - SOLREF (Solar Steam Reforming of Methane Rich Gas for Synthesis Gas Production)

Demonstration projects: Ongoing in FP7 - ARCHETYPE SW550 (Demonstration of innovating parabolic solar trough using an alternative heat transfer fluid producing electricity and fresh water: ARChimede Hot Energy TYPology Enhanced Water Solar 550) - MATS (Combined production of heat and power from solar source, in a modular, multipurpose facility to deploy in Egypt) - SOLUGAS (Solar-hybrid power system with direct solar heating of a gas turbine pressurized air)

Past projects Andasol PS10 Solar Tres

Additional projects: - SOLAR-ERA.NET: this is an FP7 tool to step up the coordination between national and/or regional research programmes. The first call has been initiated; priority topics are in line with the SEII objectives, covering both STE and photovoltaic technologies.

- The Integrated Research Programme (IRP): this is an FP7 tool that brings together programmes of a critical mass of research performers from different countries to advance the longer term research agenda of the SET-Plan. The IRP allows performers of research programmes to develop synergies and complementary capabilities and to increase the potential for innovation. STAGE-STE is a STE-related IRP due to start on 1 February 2014. ESTELA is a partner of the project.


15

16


- The ‘Solar Facilities for the European Research Area’ (SFERA) is a project of the European Commission within the frame of the FP7. It aims to boost scientific collaboration among the leading European research institutions in solar concentrating systems, financing networking activities, allowing any STE player (including industry) to benefit from R&D infrastructures through yearly access. Summer trainings on technical topics are also organized every year. The second round ‘SFERA II’ begins in January 2014 and will last 4 years.

- The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI): this is a strategic instrument to develop

the

scientific integration

of Europe

and to

strengthen its international outreach. The EU-

SOLARIS project (the European Research Infrastructure for Concentrated Solar Power) began its running phase in the end of 2012 and will last 4 years. ESTELA is a partner of the project and is responsible for the part related to the industry.

- RES4LESS (Cost-efficient and sustainable deployment of renewable energy sources towards the EU 20% target by 2020, and beyond) and BETTER (Bringing Europe and Third countries closer together through renewable Energies) started in 2011 and 2012 respectively under the European Union’s Intelligent Energy

Europe

Programme

and

are

sponsored

by

the

Executive

Agency

for

Competitiveness

and

Innovation (EACI). They aim to develop a Roadmap to a cost effective deployment of RES in the period up to 2020 and 2030 by making use of cross-border cooperation mechanisms, as described in the Renewable Energy Directive.

Gemasolar plant: Central Receiver Technology, Sevilla, Spain (TORRESOL)



II – PR OS PEC TS FOR EU INDUSTRY

1. In the EU

In Europe, compulsory RES targets have been established in 2010 through the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) for 2020. The plans include the use of STE for the sunniest European countries. The initial total amount of STE installed capacity was estimated at 7,000 MW, but the current economic situation and the indicative trends have prompted some countries to revise their estimates. An indicative description of the targets is shown in the map below.

Nevertheless, implementing “statistical transfers” among Member States as these are considered in the RES directive would allow for achieving higher figures.

Map of planned STE capacity in European countries by 2020

T H E S I T U A TI O N I N S PA IN

The Spanish market is the leader in Europe: today, 45 plants are connected to the grid and 5 more will be completed in 2013. Especially, half of them have installed a storage system. The projects have been approved in 2009 with the FiT applicable at that moment, although their construction and operation were scheduled by the Spanish Ministry over a four-year period. This is the reason why STE plants in Spain could not experience any learning curve, keeping the retribution prices for the 50 Spanish plants stable since 2009 (around 30 c€/kWh). Those costs still correspond to old projects with components purchased many years ago, with low relative irradiation and with a plant size much smaller than the ideal size. It is, thus, not possible to consider this cost as representative of the real cost of solar thermal electricity for new projects, be they in Spain or elsewhere.

The Spanish government has recently established a set of retroactive measures implying 1/3 reduction of incomes, making it difficult for the plants to reimburse their debts to the banks. These legal measures have been preventing the possibility to dedicate resources to innovation and to the internationalisation


17

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of STE Spanish companies. Because of this, the leading position held by European companies in the sector until now may be lost in a very short period of time.

Those actions from the Spanish government have been put into question by the EU but with no practical effect. The claims from the EU brought to the Permanent Court of Arbitration will last a few more years before getting to conclusions. Not only will this lead to putting the STE sector at risk in Spain, but this will also give a bad reference that could contaminate other European countries and cause a huge prejudice in the accomplishment of the objectives of the Renewable Energy Directive.

T H E S I T U A TI O N I N I T A L Y

In Sicily, an innovative project (Archimede plant) was built. This is a parabolic trough plant, which uses molten salts as heat transfer fluid to generate steam subsequently injected in an existing combined cycle power station. The plant has a molten salts thermal storage of eight hours and the equivalent power of this facility is 5 MWe.

Additionally, the Italian government revised the old FiT regulation and replaced it with a more attractive 2

one, with incentives available up to a maximum of 2.5 million m

of reflective surface. This Decree dated 2

July 2012 sets the FiT value between 27 and 32 c€/kWh for large plants (> 2,500 m between 30 and 36 c€/kWh for smaller plants (< 2,500 m

2

aperture) and

aperture). This support will be reduced by 5%

in 2015 and by another 5% of the last value in 2016. Some conditions are imposed on the heat transfer fluid and on the thermal storage size. This new incentive allows the hope for the development of a sufficient number of projects in the coming years in order to reach approximately 200 MW of installed capacity.

Archimede plant: Parabolic Trough Technology, Sicily, Italy (ENEL)



T H E S I T U A TI O N I N F R A N CE

In France, there is no FiT system for STE. The projects are processed through invitation to tenders. At the moment, two plants have been approved and are on their way for construction:

- Alba Nova 1 is a 12 MW STE plant promoted by the company ‘Solar Euromed’. This plant is situated in Corsica Island and relies on the linear Fresnel reflectors technology, combining direct steam generation and thermal storage. ‘Akuo Energy’, an independent renewable energy developer, and

the French

Deposit and Consignment Office are partners and bring a financial support to the project. A guaranteed tariff for its solar energy production has been awarded for 20 years.

- Another 9 MW plant also based on the Fresnel technology with a thermal storage will be built in Llo (Pyrénées-Orientales) and operated by the company ‘CNIM’ for a period of 20 years. This solar power plant, on a twenty-hectare site, is the industrial scale roll-out of a pilot plant that has been operating continuously

for

the

last two years

known

as

the

e-Care

pre-industrial

demonstrator.

The

French

Deposit and Consignment Office is a partner in this project.

T H E S I T U A TI O N I N OT H E R EU R O PE A N CO U N T R I E S

Globally, the economic crisis has a large negative impact. In Cyprus, the FiT value for STE is 26 c€/kWh; in Greece, it is 26,5 c€/kWh without thermal storage and 28,5 c€/kWh with more than 2 hours thermal storage. Portugal is reviewing its support system and is planning small pilot facilities.


19

20


2 . Ou t s i de t he E U

THE UNITED STATES The first commercial plants in the Mojave Desert, the SEGS plants, with 350 MW are in continuous operation since middle 80’s. These plants played a very important role in convincing the financial institutions on the reliability of STE technology making possible the deployment in Spain. In addition, there are some more recent plants, such as the 60 MW Nevada Solar 1 and the ISCC in Florida with a solar field of 75 MWe equivalent.

Five

STE

projects

are

currently

under

construction

in

the

southwest

of

the

United

States.

After

completion, they will have a capacity of over 1,300 MW, a significant increase over the approximately 500 MW now operating.

Some other projects (for a total installed capacity close to 1,000 MW) have been announced as well, including the corresponding PPA contracts with some utilities.

Nevada Solar One: Parabolic Trough Technology, United States (ACCIONA)

Crescent Dunes Solar Energy: Solar Tower Technology, United States (SOLARRESERVE, COBRA)



EMERGING COUNTRIES Other countries are emerging and taking initiatives to develop STE through the implementation of national plans: -

Morocco implemented its 2 GW Solar Plan, with a first plant awarded and the others being under

-

Saudi Arabia aims at 25 GW by 2032. The first 900 MW tender is expected along 2013;

-

Algeria intends to generate 40% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030;

-

In Jordan the first STE projects have been qualified, although the FiT needs to be fine-tuned to

preparation;

eventually build the projects; -

Qatar targets 2 GW of solar installations by 2020, including a 60% share of STE;

-

South Africa aims at installing 200 MW of solar power by 2015 and 1.2 GW by 2030;

-

Chile uses STE for extraction and production processes in copper mines; a plant to supply base load to the mining industry in the North of Chile has been tendered with a grant from the Chilean Government;

-

India, through its National Solar Mission, aims to fulfil 8 GW of solar power by 2020;

-

China has already 200 MW in its current pipeline and aims at 3 GW by 2020 in the framework of its 12th Five Year Plan;

-

Australia initiated the first phase of its Solar Flagship Programme, targeting 250 MW of solar power connected to the grid by 2015.

3 . Ot he r i ni t i a t i v e s

THE MEDITERRANEAN SOLAR PLAN The Mediterranean Solar Plan (MSP) is a flagship of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) initiative. It has

two

goals:

developing

20

GW of

new

renewable

energy

production

capacities

and

achieving

significant energy savings around the Mediterranean by 2020, thus addressing both supply and demand. The MSP is supported by the European Commission, who launched the technical assistance project ‘Paving the Way for the Mediterranean Solar Plan’ in 2010. Many actors are involved in this process: MoUs were signed by the Desertec Industry Initiative and Medgrid in 2011 and by the Mediterranean Transmission System Operators (TSO) in 2012 to foster the integration of a regional electricity market in the long term.

A MSP Master Plan draft is currently being debated by a Joint Committee of National Experts, after many discussions between all stakeholders (Member States, European Commission, League of Arab States, Financial institutions, Industry, Regional and Sub-regional Platforms, etc.). The Master Plan deals with the following key issues: developing enabling policy and regulatory frameworks; strengthening financial

support

tools;

upgrading

transmission

infrastructure

systems;

supporting

industrial

development and job creation; enhancing capacity development and know-how transfer.

The first phase of the Ouarzazate Solar Power Plant, supported by the Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF) is in line with the MSP.

st

In 2011, ESTELA expressed its views within the 1

session of the MSP Technical Working Group on

Financial Issues, led by the UfM, suggesting solutions to overcome the financial gap for STE.


21

22


Nevertheless - as explained in the following sections - it is more likely that the new projects in the MENA region

will

be

mainly

developed

under

the

umbrella

of

national

programs

with

the

support

of

multilateral development banks. These projects will primarily aim to supply the increasing needs of dispatchable electricity for domestic consumption. Therefore the MSP should be revisited to reinforce its instrumental role in this evolving scenario.



III – THE STE EUR OPEAN IND USTRY IN ITIATIVE

On 2 May 2013, the European Commission published the Communication on Energy Technologies and 6

Innovation . This Communication underlines the importance of the SET-Plan and its Industrial Initiatives to “reduce costs rapidly and speed up the introduction of new technologies into the market”. The innovation strategy is put forward, bridging the gap between research through the support of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and market through the European Industrial Initiatives (EII). The Communication states that large scale efforts in innovation should be made through regulation and financing, and should create an investment climate conducive to more innovation investment. ESTELA’s 7

research strategy

is on track with those statements, as demonstrated in the three following action

points:

1. R&D Projects 8

I N CR E A S E E F F I CI E N C Y A N D R E D U C E C O S T S

The different targets to reach the objective ‘Improve efficiency and reduce costs’ are listed below for each technology. However, cross-cutting issues exist between the different technologies and need to be taken into consideration. Specific issues concerned with small-medium plants (installed capacity < 10 MW) shall also be considered. Cost reduction in terms of civil works, and durability of components should be addressed. The transversal research topics to be investigated are:

6

7

8

Communication on Energy Technologies and Innovation COM(2013) 253 final, Brussels, 2.5.2013

Strategic Research Agenda 2020-2025 for Solar Thermal Electricity, ESTELA, December 2012

This chapter is extracted from the Strategic Research Agenda on Solar Thermal Electricity 2020-2025,

ESTELA, December 2012


23

24


Research topics for each typical technology plant are listed below



I N CR E A S E D I S P A T C H A B I L I T Y

Dispatchability is one of the characteristics making STE a favoured option among other renewable resources.

Therefore,

“Improving

dispatchability”

is

an

essential

objective

for

STE

development.

Although many plants are already built with a storage system, more efforts are needed to be done.

Integration systems:

The integration of solar heat in large steam plants can be achieved through the water preheating line or through the boiler steam/water circuit. In the first case, an appropriate boiler design is required to deal with temperature differences. If the integration is done with the boiler, an improvement of its design and control system is needed.

The integration of solar heat with gas turbine or combined cycle plants

is also an option. With a gas

turbine, the temperature of the air can be increased in high temperature solar collectors, leading to high conversion efficiencies. The ability to handle transient phases requires an improvement of the design of the control system.

The integration of solar heat with biomass,

more appropriate

for

small sized facilities, is

a good

combination for an all-renewable fuelled plant. Although the combustion of biomass is not easy, it is possible to use organic fluid thermodynamic cycles (ORC), which simplify operation while increasing the overall efficiency.

Hybrid systems:

Integration with bio-conventional fuels in large plants avoids the logistic problems of the biomass. Integration in a plant with a well balance relation between sun and the alternative fuel to achieve flexible firm generation can be a solution to provide firmness in the system.

Storage:

Depending on the HTF (Heat Transfer Fluid), different designs can be set up:

If the HTF is thermal oil and the capacity of the thermal storage system small, a single storage tank with good temperature stratification instead of a two tank configuration can greatly simplify storage. A single tank can also be optimised by a solid separation between the heat exchanger and the storage material.

If the HTF is molten salts, no exchanger is needed between the solar field and the storage circuit.

New

salt mixtures with lower freezing point and which avoid corrosion problems are the research and development goals for this topic. Molten Salts must be qualified to be compatible with the Solar field components (e.g. receiver tubes). Optimized operation strategies including anti-freezing measures and emergency draining concepts etc. must be developed and validated on system level.

If the HTF is steam, no exchanger is needed before the power block. Solid/liquid phase change materials applied for saturated steam are to be investigated.

If the HTF is gas,

very high temperature applications are feasible. The challenges are how to design

effective heat transfer systems and to find suitable storage materials.

In

general,

maximise

improved

strategies

storage capacity.

for

charging

and

discharging

Concepts for thermo-chemical

thermal

energy

storage

heat

are

necessary

to

systems are also to be

investigated.


25

26


Improve forecasting:

Many solutions can be envisioned, such as elaborating a very short term forecast for variable sky conditions, developing electricity forecasting systems to regulate and manage electricity production, improving

ground

based

DNI

measurements,

using

meteorological

satellite

results,

and

improving

numerical weather prediction models for DNI forecasting, analysing its inter-annual variability and the time and space correlation between solar and wind energy sources.

I M P R O VE T H E E N V I R O N M E N T A L P R O F I L E

Heat transfer fluids are of concern because of their potential impact on the environment: the pollution from synthetic oil is one of the most common concerns. The environmental and economic parameters of different fluids have been studied.

Heat transfer fluids versus technical, environmental and economic characteristics Desalination is a very interesting application of solar thermal energy. Despite the drawbacks related to the requirements for finding a site, desalination presents significant technical and economic advantages. There are several technical solutions, such as multi-effect distillation, reverse osmosis, humidificationdehumidification process and membrane distillation.

The desalination system can also be the cooler

part of the conventional power block. Thus, the optimisation of the integrated or combined cooling process needs to be considered as a research topic.

Reduction of water consumption (for the cooling system mainly, and also for mirror washing) should be addressed.

L A R GE T E S T F A C IL IT E S F O R C O N CE P T VI A B I L I T Y

In addition to the R&D lines mentioned above, support for the construction and operation of large test facilities for high-efficiency STE systems should be considered. The definition of the most useful facilities should be done in collaboration with EU-SOLARIS, because this project has a specific activity to identify the new test facilities required by the STE sector.

Just as an example, we could refer to molten salt technology which can only be validated at system level (e.g. operation concepts, protection against freezing, emergency draining). The introduction of molten



salt technology directly into a first-of-its-kind parabolic trough commercial plant is hampered by the present difficult financing conditions (investors and banks are rather risk averse). A system-scale proof is required to reduce the risk factors for the financing of this technology.

Budget 9

The estimated budget and public support for the period 2013 – 2015 are given below :

Investments

Grants

Increase efficiency and reduce costs

100 M€

60 M€

Increase dispatchability

80 M€

40 M€

Improve environmental profile

20 M€

10 M€

Large test facilities for concept viability

50 M€

10 M€

TOTAL

250 M€

120 M€

A significant part of these projects corresponds to component development, prototypes or small scale demonstration projects. For these activities, grants will be the preferable type of support.

The support to these specific lines would be under the framework of the ‘Horizon 2020’ programme.

9

The definition of ‘Investment’ and ‘Grants’ can be found in the chapter “Budget Summary”.


27

28


2. Innovation in Future STE Plants in Southern Europe The Communication of the European Commission on Energy Technologies and Innovation states that the potential of solar energy should be further exploited in cooperation with the Mediterranean Partner Countries.

The excellent seasonal complementarity of wind resources in the North Sea and solar resources in the South of Europe could draw a scenario in which the entire EU could be supplied at a large extent by these two energy sources at competitive prices in the future:

A combination of off-shore wind, mainly along the coasts of the UK, The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, together with photovoltaic and STE plants in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, would be the foundation of the solution for providing zero-emission carbon-free electricity generation in the EU by 2050.

This

concept

would

be

complemented

with

biomass

and

hydraulic

energy,

with

a

bigger

proportion in Northern countries but also in Central Europe.

This has been foreseen in the European Directive on Renewable Energy Resources, i.e. in Article 6 “Statistical Transfers”, in article 7 “Joint Projects” and in article 11 “Joint Support Schemes”.

To achieve those goals, the strengthening of interconnections between countries and the creation of long-distance high-capacity routes that constitute the Supergrid are essential requirements. They would guarantee

electric

stability

all

over

Europe

and

ensure

costs

reduction

by

the

incorporation

of

renewable energy for generating electricity. The technology of HVDC submarine cables could allow a faster installation of major transport lines, avoiding lengthy administrative processes for deploying land lines.

In addition, the national management of the TSOs and the current schemes of the electric market, which allocate the current transmission capacity on spot basis, need to be changed. A capacity reserve for electricity exports from STE plants is absolutely necessary in order to take the decision to build the joint projects. If a STE plant was to be built in Spain to transfer its production to Germany, it would be necessary to secure the transmission capacity for the whole duration period of the PPA.



The strategic vision of the STE-EII has to be included in the SET-Plan that should support the first STE projects of this ambitious scheme and give the institutional support to accelerate the construction of the Supergrid, facilitating long-term capacity reserves of STE plants in the south of Europe exporting their production to central and northern European countries.

Projects of this type would be a good example of the recommended integrated approach on the Horizon 2020 programme. They will include not only the two countries where the electricity is generated and consumed but the other countries in between allowing for a proper transmission. The number and type of agents will cover the whole value chain from innovation suppliers, plant constructors and promoters to TSOs and offtakers. The institutional support at country and European levels along with the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity will be an essential part of the project as well. Once the first project is launched, the barriers are removed and the viability is demonstrated, the replication effect will follow automatically.

Increasing the grid network for solar thermal electricity

In this action line, projects would primarily aim to achieve the following objectives:

- Increase efficiency and reduce costs - Increase dispatchability The preferred support mechanisms would be in this case soft loans and risk sharing.

ESTELA is ready to work with the European Commission so that a first project of this kind could be launched before the end of 2014.

After 2014, at least one project per year could be launched. It should incorporate innovations in terms of

increased

efficiency,

cost

reduction

and

increased

dispatchability.

The

projects

would

have

an

optimum commercial size in the range from 150 to 200 MW.


29

30


Budget 10

The estimated budget and public support for the period 2013 – 2015 is given below

:

Investments

Soft Loans

Risk Sharing

Grant


600 M€

200 M€

150 M€

25 M€


600 M€

200 M€

150 M€

25 M€

TOTAL

1,200 M€

400 M€

300 M€

50 M€

Each

project

would

likely

include

innovation

in

both

topics;

therefore

the

budget

can

be

better

understood by considering the “Total” row.

Due to the time still required to implement this action line, ESTELA does not expect that the projects could be

constructed

before

2015.

Therefore

the

expected

investments and

supports

have

to

be

considered as “committed” rather than “materialized” within the time frame of this Implementation Plan.

The Structural Funds through the “Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3)” would be an ideal mechanism to support this first of its kind integrated project involving many type of actors from several European countries.

10

The definition of ‘Investment’, ‘Soft loans’ and ‘Risk sharing’ can be found in the chapter “Budget

Summary”.



31

Innovations in Future Commercial Projects Developed by European Companies in Third Countries 3.

STE plants will experience a rapid expansion in the countries located in the Sun Belt, not only for their differentiated

technical

characteristics

with

respect

to

other

variable

renewable

technologies

(dispatchability thanks to storage and hybridisation; and contribution to the stability of the network thanks to a great inertial factor), but also for the significant contribution to the economy of those countries. STE plants will provide a strong macroeconomic impact due to the high local content, which has been proven since the first plant was built.

Moreover, if contractual formulas with sufficient guarantees are established, many foreign investors will be attracted, resulting in a boost of the economy in these countries.

Workers in action

In countries with a good irradiation, it is possible to set up big STE plants with little or no public support. 11

Typical PPAs will be in the range of 15-16 c€/kWh for 25 years, as demonstrated in the position paper

published by ESTELA in October 2012. These figures are close to competitiveness and allow filling in the gap with reduced premium levels. In any case, the macroeconomic impact analysis will demonstrate to policy makers that supporting the deployment of STE plants is a good business for the economy of their countries.

Export of green electricity to Europe from MENA countries under Article 9 of the RES Directive offers to these countries a great opportunity for industrial development but it has still some issues to be solved.

11

The Essential Role of Solar Thermal Electricity, a real opportunity for Europe – Position Paper, ESTELA,

Brussels, October 2012


32


Nevertheless, if these countries build STE plants for the domestic market, the presence of the European technology is assured for the coming years.

For these reasons it is suggested to support innovation in the bids that European companies will submit under the tendering processes. This could provide added value to the European proposals, although the applicable formula should be thoroughly studied by the legal services.

The STE market is now emerging in countries like United States, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Morocco, India, Chile, United Arab Emirates, etc. The support mechanisms depend basically on the domestic policies and the projects are awarded under competitive tendering or direct negotiation basis. Access to soft loan lines or risk sharing lines for the projects to be constructed in those countries could play an important role to win the projects.

In addition support to specific technologies to be applied in projects outside Europe could also provide important advantages. This can be implemented in the form of grants to demonstration projects, either at small scale or integrating new developments in existing STE commercial plants.

Not only would the innovations for increasing efficiency or for reducing cost be eligible, but also environmental aspects, such as water consumption reduction. Integration of desalinated water and electricity production could be also promoted for the first time in the world with the support of the SETPlan.

ESTELA has been advocating for a long time for the constitution of a company that would act as off-taker for the electricity generated in the MENA region that would be exported to Europe. This company could be constituted by public agencies promoting renewable energy in the different countries, for instance, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, etc. It would be open to include any other country that would support the initiative, as a producer, receiver or transferor. This company could also count on financial guarantees from the EIB.

This off-taker company would be the first to identify the gaps to comply with the 2020 objectives in the EU countries and would subsequently compete for the construction of a plant in a defined country (Morocco with its current capacity for commercial exchanges of 600 MW

would be suitable for the first

projects), signing a PPA for 20-25 years with the winning company.

This formula would give a solid legal security to companies investing in the new plant.

Market

plans

for

this off-taker

company, for

which

administration

aspects

would

not

significantly

increase the price of electricity in Europe, result to be attractive and with no excessive risks.

The operating procedure would be:

Identify needs of supply , i .e gaps towards achieving the respective RES targets in European countries;

Activate the fulfillment of all administrative requirements;

Reach price agreements in each of the EU electricity systems and/or distribution companies;

Establish the necessary agreements with European TSOs on transport and certification;

Reach promotional agreements with MENA countries;



Tender the plants on PPA basis;

Sell the electricity by packages to the different customers and pay the PPA to the owner of the plant.

The SET-Plan might contribute to make this happen with institutional support.

The projects competing at national level (e.g. Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc.) could receive the support of the SET-Plan as of now.

Nevertheless, projects targeted to export electricity to Europe using the established statement of Article 9 of the RES Directive would probably have some more years before all the necessary formalities are settled.

The STE-EII estimates that, at least two innovative projects per year could be launched.

Each plant would have an optimal commercial size, between 150 and 200 MW while for combined electricity and water the electrical power would be in the range from 30 – 50 MW.

Aside from electricity generation and transfer, another important aspect is the setup of European standards

in

terms

of

quality,

environmental

and

social

sustainable in time and consistent with European principles.

issues,

in

order

to

implement

projects

A good expertise of this new market in

third countries can increase the chances of the European industry to benefit from the market growth in those regions and see effective R&D efforts.

Capacity building and R&D infrastructures in the third countries should be supported.

Solana power plant, United States (ABENGOA)


33

34


Budget: 12

The estimated budget and public support for the period 2013 – 2015 is given below

:

Investments

Soft Loans

Risk Sharing

Grants


1,200 M€

400 M€

200 M€

25 M€


500 M€

200 M€

100 M€

25 M€


200 M€

50 M€

40 M€

25 M€

TOTAL

1,900 M€

650 M€

340 M€

75 M€

Due to the time still required to implement this action line, ESTELA does not expect that these projects can be achieved before 2015. Therefore the expected investments and supports have to be considered as “committed” rather than “materialized” within the time frame of this Implementation Plan.

Each project would likely include innovation in all three topics; therefore the budget can be better understood by considering the “Total” row.

12

The definition of ‘Investment’, ‘Soft loans’ and ‘Risk sharing’ can be found in the chapter “Budget

Summary”.



IV BUDGET SUMMAR Y

Investments R&D projects

Grants


100 M€

60 M€


80 M€

40 M€


20 M€

10 M€

Large test facilities for concept viability

50 M€

10 M€

250 M€

120 M€

Total Innovation in future STE Plants in Southern Europe

Soft loans

Risk Sharing


600 M€

200 M€


600 M€

200 M€

1,200 M€

400 M€


1,200 M€

400 M€


500 M€

200 M€


200 M€

50 M€

Total

1,900 M€

650 M€

75 M€

340 M€

Total estimated budget of the STE-EII for the period 2013-2015

3,350 M€

1,050 M€

245 M€

640 M€

Total Innovation in future commercial projects developed by European companies in third countries

25 M€

25 M€ 50 M€ 25 M€

25 M€

25 M€

150 M€

150 M€

300 M€ 200 M€

100 M€

40 M€

The resources in the table above should come from:

• • •

•

Investments: Companies, own budget of technology centres Grants: EU Horizon 2020 programme, Member States and Regional governments, NER 300 Soft Loans: EIB or commercial banks with new support mechanisms under Horizon 2020 Risk Sharing: EIB or commercial banks with new mechanisms under Horizon 2020


35

36


The

Structural Funds through the

“Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization (RIS3)”

could also contribute with grants, soft loans and risk sharing. Expressions of interest have been received from the Spanish regions of Extremadura and Andalucía.

It is important to stress that new funding mechanisms should be implemented by the SET-Plan.



V KEY PER FORM ANCE IN D ICAT ORS

The deployment of STE plants is now starting at a wide level. Typical projects will be in the 100 MW range and the most important parameter is the level of the PPA needed to make the project happen.

The LCOE estimate that was applied as over-arching KPI in the previous implementation plan is no longer used in this sector (although it would still be possible to calculate it). The only real reference for the projects which are being launched every year is today the level of the PPA. The differences between the LCOE and the PPA are due to the fact that the PPA is not calculated for the whole life span of the plant but for a shorter period (20 to 25 years usually). The PPA includes the promoter’s profit but no remaining value of the installation, which will constitute the basis for the country’s economy of the most profitable end phase of the operational life of the plant.

The PPA (or FiT in specific countries) is the value that will be accepted by the promoter and which de facto triggers the building of the plants. This value is usually publicly known and should therefore be tracked/monitored to see the cost reduction in this technology.

The PPA depends on many factors, some of them related to the technology (DNI and plant size) and other factors related to financial conditions (duration, escalation factors, public support such as grants, concessional loans, guaranty coverage, etc.). ESTELA has attempted to prepare a model where all the specific differences will be taken into account in order to compare the real cases at world level and to track the cost reduction in the future.

The standard reference project has been defined as: 150 MW, 4 hours storage plant, with fixed 25 year PPA (no escalation) and without any kind of public support (no grants, no soft loans, etc.). The CAPEX for this typical plant is currently in the range of 550 million €.

Given the current CAPEX, the estimated OPEX - where there are still some differences among the plants - and the efficiency, the resulting PPA will mainly depend on the solar resource on site (DNI).


37

38


13

The result of this analysis

along with the estimations of the Industry on cost reduction is the following:

PPA14 in c€/kWh 2

DNI 2050 (kWh/m /year) 2

DNI 2600 (kWh/m /year)

2013

2015

2020

19

16

12

16

13

10

The reference parameters for a typical STE plant are:

STE Reference System for 2010

Update for 2013

DNI

2050 kWh/m²/year

Plant capacity

150 MW, 4 hours Storage

Capital investment cost

5,000 €/kW

O&M costs (in percentage of

2%

3,800 €/kW

investment costs)

13

Capacity factor

37%

PPA duration

25 years

Baseline for PPA in 2010

21 c€/kWh

19 c€/kWh

The Essential Role of Solar Thermal Electricity, a real opportunity for Europe – Position Paper, ESTELA,

Brussels, October 2012

14

The PPA is the first key performance indicator, referred as KPI-1 in the table on next page



39

A breakdown of KPIs can be seen below:

Description

Metric

Overarching KPI

KPI-1

PPA

1. Increase efficiency and reduce costs

KPI-2

Increased solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency

KPI-3

Increase HTF Temperature

BASELINE

TARGETS

2010

2015

2020/2025

See values on previous page (relative to baseline)

(relative to baseline)

15% Trough

+5% Trough

+20% Trough

8.5% Fresnel

+15% Fresnel

+30% Fresnel

17% Dish

+15% Dish

+30% Dish

12.5% Tower

+50% Tower15

+65% Tower

400°C Trough

560°C Tower

>500°C Trough

280°C Fresnel

420°C Fresnel

500°C Fresnel

650°C Dish

>900°C Dish

250°C Tower

>900°C Tower

KPI-4

Reduce cost of installed products and O&M for stateof-the-art commercial plants

2% of CAPEX

-10%

-20%

KPI-5

Reduce power block costs (Rankine cycle)

1,300 €/kWp

1,300 €/kWp Molten Salt as HTF

1,200 €/kWp Advanced HTF

1,000 €/kWp

800 €/kWp

KPI-6

Reduce collector costs

Trough with thermal oil

Hybrid plant

Advanced hybrid plant

250 €/m2

250 €/m2

200 €/m2

Trough with thermal oil

Molten Salt or


Hybrid plant KPI-7

Reduce the specific cost of the HTF system

330 €/kWth Trough with thermal oil

295 €/kWth Molten Salt as HTF

120 €/kWth Advanced HTF

165 €/kWth

100 €/kWth

Hybrid plant


20,000 €/MWhth

15,000 €/MWhth

2. Improve dispatchability

KPI-8

Investment cost of storage

35,000 €/MWhth

[Figures concerning storage are based only on molten salt technology].

KPI-9

Increase efficiency of storage

94%

96%

KPI-10

Substantial reduction of water consumption with only minor loss of performance relative to current water cooling system

3.5 liters/kWh

< 1 liter/kWh

3. Improve the environmental profile

15

After Gemasolar breakthrough


40


VI RELAT IONS WITH OTH ER INDUSTR IAL IN ITIAT IV ES

1. The European Electricity Grid Initiative (EEGI) The specific relation to the grid initiative stems from the fact that STE power plants with thermal energy storage are able to deliver a reliable contribution to ancillary services (essentially voltage control and reactive power). To that extent, STE power plants should and will be able to comply with the ENTSO-E Network Code for Requirements for Grid Connection.

The objective of a coordination with the EEGI should be to determine whether the development of CSP technologies further strengthens the use of energy storage to increase dispatchability, and enable them to operate much like “standard thermal power plants”. A joint study with the EEGI would involve planning and operation simulations to set development specifications for grid integration of STE plants.

The questions at stake are more specifically as follows:

1. Can STE power plants meet the demand at any time, day and night, and supply electricity at peak hours according to planned schedule?

2. Do STE plants have the capability to offer primary, secondary and tertiary reserves?

This study may then specify one large scale experiment to validate the energy and network value. The need for such a demonstration, its expected benefits and its costs need to be evaluated jointly by the EEGI and the SEII.

STE plants with thermal energy storage could well be hybridized into combined solar plants with PV plants

where

PV

would

deliver power

during

sun

hours

while

STE plants

would

take

over

power

generation independently of the day time, responding thus to TSO operating needs.

2. The Storage Technology Roadmap Thermal storage is of utmost importance to develop and expand STE. ESTELA contributed to the working group in charge of drafting the ‘European Energy Storage Technology Development Roadmap towards 2030’ developed by EASE and EERA.

3. The Roadmap on Turbomachinery 2014-2020 EUTurbines released a ‘Roadmap on Turbomachinery, enabling new energy technologies under Horizon 2020’. The document includes a 4-page chapter dedicated to STE, gathering R&D efforts needed in terms of costs and new concepts. Synergies can be found with the research topics listed in the ESTELA Strategic Research Agenda.


European Solar Thermal Electricity Association – ESTELA a.s.b.l. Renewable Energy House Rue d'Arlon 63-67 B-1040 Brussels Belgium T: +32 (0)2 400 10 90 F: +32 (0)2 400 10 91 E: estela(at)estelasolar.eu I: www.estelasolar.eu