Feasibility Study of Five Concentrated Solar Power in La Joya, Arequipa

Abstract

This article deals with the calculation of LEC (levelized cost of energy) of five CSP (Concentrated solar power) plants of different capacities 20 MWe, 50 MWe, 100 MWe and 200 MWe, the calculations take as a reference the generating costs of the plant Gemasolar, updated in 2018, where the LEC is based on the optimal plant configured by the SAM (System Advisor Model) software, performing eighteen simulations for each plant power to determine which has the minimum LEC value. This LEC is also considered for the projection of eight hours of TES (Thermal Energy Storage) using design data out from a master’s thesis project proposal for the city of Arequipa related to a 100 MWe solar thermal plant. Among the main findings is that, if electricity generation with an LEC lower than SEAL’s BT5B rate is feasible, that the 100 MWe plant of a master’s thesis is possible, even when it is not the best plant, since a 200 MWe plant has lower LEC than this one. It was also found that the 200 MWe plant and 8 hours of thermal storage is the best plant for the city of Arequipa, since it has 2.73 % less cost than the LEC of the local BT5B rate.