The average daily solar radiation in most African countries makes concentrated solar power (CSP) one of the most attractive renewable energy solutions to ensure a secure supply of clean electricity to power economic and infrastructure growth on the continent.
As a company, Siemens believes CSP is a key technology of the 21st century and is one of the world’s leading solar power technology suppliers. “We are already the market leader in steam turbines for solar thermal power plants and, with the power block, we can offer a key part for solar power plants – the part that is responsible for power generation,” says John Hazakis, head of Solar and Hydro at Siemens Southern Africa. Hazakis says that Siemens was the first steam turbine supplier to re-enter the CSP market in the 21st century, pioneering commercial solutions in the US and Spain. Today, Siemens is the world market leader in steam turbines for CSP plants, and has more than 20 years of experience with steam turbines for daily cycling.
With the acquisition of Solel in 2009, Siemens now boasts high-efficiency receiver technology and comprehensive expertise in the engineering and construction of solar fields. “We are able to offer the key components for the construction of parabolic trough power plants from a single source and to further enhance the efficiency of these plants, and this expertise is available for our customers in Africa,” adds Hazakis.
“The roll-out of CSP in South Africa, and the rest of Africa, is not only good for ensuring a sustainable source of electricity, it also offers huge potential for job creation and localisation,” says Hazakis. “However, to create a sustainable industry more capacity needs to be allocated to CSP technology to ensure that the necessary investments can be made in local manufacturing and skills development.”
Siemens CSP power plants are very much like a standard power plant with an energy source, steam, and conversion of thermal power to electricity. In these plants the energy source is sunlight, focused by parabolic mirrors onto solar receivers located in the focal line of the parabolas. The entire parabola moves to track the sun and maximise the collection of solar energy. A fluid, typically a synthetic oil, flows through the receivers as a heat transfer medium. In the process the fluid is heated and its energy is transferred via a heat exchanger to water. The steam thus produced is used to generate electricity in a steam turbine-generator.
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