The electricity produced by this thermosolar source of energy will be able to supply 25,000 homes, reducing annual CO2 emissions by more than 30,000 tons.
The molten salt heat transfer technology developed at Gemasolar enables avoiding energy supply fluctuations, through a system that can produce electricity for 15 hours without sunlight. That is to say, it can generate electricity 24 hours a day during many months of the year, at night or during periods of very weak sunlight.
The plant, located in southern Spain (Seville), is composed of a solar field with 2,650 heliostats (flat mirrors), which cover about 185 hectares. The system is able to concentrate sunlight in a proportion of 1,000:1 at the central receiver, located at the top of the tower. The tower technology uses molten salts as a fluid for heat transfer, which can reach temperatures above 500 degrees centigrade. This enables generating a hotter, pressurized vapor for the turbine than is the case with parabolic trough technology, thereby significantly improving the efficiency of the plant.
Sener has been responsible for supplying all of the technology, as well as the engineering design, leading the construction work and starting up the plant. The technology developed by the Spanish group includes leading-edge solutions such as the molten salt storage system and the receiver, which is able to absorb 95% of the sunlight spectrum and transmit this energy to the molten salt compound circulating in its interior. Later, this is used to heat up the vapor and operate the turbines.
Expansión.com