Abstract:
In this study, cleaner energy production through two main solar energy technologies
is compared from technical, economical, and environmental perspectives. The impact
of solar multiple, thermal storage size, and cooling system for CSP, while module type
and tracking system for PV is investigated to evaluate the techno-economic
performance of power plant. Technical performance is evaluated on energy generation
and capacity factors metrics, while economic performance is evaluated on levelized
cost, payback period, and net present value metrics. In addition, environmental metrics
such as GHG emissions reduction, fossil fuel saved, and life cycle water consumption
are evaluated. Initially, 50 MW CSP power plant is modeled and simulated at four
selected locations, then the most feasible location for CSP based power plant is
compared with a solar PV plant of the same capacity.
From the result, it is concluded that CSP based power plant located at Quetta is
technically and economically viable and has a very good potential to mitigate the
adverse impacts of climate change by producing clean energy. The capacity factor of
the CSP plant is 36.6% as compared to 19.8% for the PV plant, while the solar to
electrical efficiency of CSP plant is 14.2% as compared to 20.8% for the PV plant. The
land area required to generate energy is 2.77 acres/GWh for CSP and 2.33 acres/GWh
for PV plant, while the net capital cost for CSP is 5 times higher than that of PV plant.
The optimization of different design parameters is performed to obtain the minimized
levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for both CSP and PV plants. Simulation results for
CSP and PV plants in Quetta indicate that LCOE can be minimized to 11.57 cents/kWh
and 4.69 cents/kWh, respectively. CSP plant has superior annual energy production
and capacity factor in comparison to PV plant, while PV plant is superior in terms of
project capital cost and levelized cost of energy. Thus, the CSP plant performs better
from a technical perspective while the PV plant performs better from an economic
perspective.
