Techno-Economic Study of a Hybrid CSP-CPV Plant in Tower Configuration

Despite being a mature technology, CSP plants with thermal energy storage (TES) are unable to achieve the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) values of commerical PV plants. The high costs of the tower, heliostat field, and thermal energy storage (TES), among other factors, hinders the achievement of such values. In this study, we present a multi-tower plant with two solar concentration technologies: each tower features a cavity thermal receiver (coupled to a molten salt TES and a power block) and a concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) receiver. The shared investment costs of the solar field and the tower may allow to obtain more competitive economic indicators. This study goals to analyze the techno-economic feasibility of the hybrid solution by evaluating the LCOE and the Cost of Valued Energy (COVE) of different system configurations (e.g. 4, 8 and 12 h of TES). Optimal system configurations reach a LCOE and a COVE of 56.8 €/MWh and 61.9 €/MWh, respectively. Highly favorable results compared to the values obtained for a conventional tower CSP plant with molten salts TES: 106.05 €/MWh, and 90.27 €/MWh. In conclusion, the present study proves the tecno-economic viability of a multi-tower plant hybridizing two solar concentrating technologies: thermal and concentrated photovoltaics.