Gemasolar is a concentrated thermal solar tower plant with a molten salt heat storage system.
The plant is a 140 m high solar power tower and uses concepts pioneered in the Solar One and Solar Two demonstration projects, using molten salt as its heat transfer fluid and energy storage medium. Originally called Solar Tres, it was renamed Gemasolar.[3] The project, which has received a subsidy of five million Euros from the European Commission and a loan of 80 million Euros from the European Investment Bank, makes use of the Solar Two technology tested in Barstow, California, but is approximately three times the size. It makes use of several advances in technology after Solar Two was designed and built. Gemasolar is the first commercial solar plant with central tower receiver and molten salt heat storage technology. It consists of a 185 ha solar field that has a 140-m high tower receiver, a power island and 2650 heliostats, each 120 m2 and distributed in concentric rings around the tower. [4] The most innovative aspects of the plant, which belongs to the company Torresol Energy, are its molten salt receiver, its heliostats aiming system and its control system. In addition, its storage system allows it to produce electricity for 15 hours without sunlight (at night or on cloudy days). This storage capacity makes its solar power manageable so that it can be supplied based on demand. The plant has already been able to supply a full day[5] of uninterrupted power supply to the grid, using thermal transfer technology developed by SENER. Gemasolar, with its MW of power, can supply 110 GWh per year — enough to supply power to 27,500 homes. The plant has been operational since May 2011. Its official launch was held in October of 2011
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Seville , Spain
Photo credit: © Steve Morgan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: andalucia, carbon, change, climate, efficiency, electricity, energy, free, heliostats, innovation, neutral, plant, power, renewable, solar, spain, station, sunflowers, sustainable, thermal, tower, towers
