Recently, Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant, constructed by Zhejiang SUPCON SOLAR Technology Co., Ltd. (SUPCON SOLAR), has passed complete technical assessment of Fichtner, a German independent engineering consultancy company. In the assessment report, Fichtner considers the design of the plant corresponds to state-of-the-art design of similar plants in the world, the self-developed heliostat and control system and other core equipment are of high quality, andthe plant has good operation performance and advanced quality with the level of other international peers.
△ Technical Assessment of Fichtner
The assessment was independently carried out by the technical team of Fichtner. It took several months for the technical team to conduct detailed investigation, review and confirmation on the overall design and general equipment condition of the plant, technology of main equipment, operation performance and running data of the plant, commissioning procedures of key systems and O&M strategy. The assessment report shows that the design of the plant corresponds to state-of-the-art design known by Fichtner from other molten salt solar tower technology providers, the condition of the plant equipment and operation can be considered as good, and the overall design has some remarkable highlights, including the self-developed heliostat and control system are deemed to be of high quality; the number of salt pumps is minimized reducing costs and own electricity consumption of the plant, while still maintaining high quality and availability; the two heat-exchanger-trains based steam generation system design leads to higher operation flexibility.
In addition, the technical experts of Fichtner confirm that the operation performance of the plant was good based on the review of the operation data during the performance test period and on-site investigation. Fichtner focuses on evaluating the performance of the plant in the first half year (October 2019 to March 2020) of the performance test period. Based on the analysis of key indicators such as the total DNI, actual/theoretical electricity production, electricity delivered to the grid, auxiliary power consumption, Fichtner deems that the plant has fulfilled an average of 97.06% theoretical electricity production during this period, ascending on monthly basis, which reflects the improving operation strategies, and further performance at the current levels can be expected.
△ Operating data from October 2019 to March 2020 (excersted from Fichtner's assessment report).
The conclusion of the assessment report is that, from a general technical perspective, Fichtner considers the plant as being of advanced quality. In the comparison to plants of other international technology providers the quality of Delingha 50MW solar tower plant can be rated as similar. The new design approaches are surprising and tend to lead to significant improvements of performance and O&M.
△ Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant
Molten salt tower CSP technology is highly complicated, which was mastered by only a few European and American enterprises in the early stage. Although a number of demonstration projects such as SUPCON SOLAR Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant have been completed in China, due to the lack of authoritative international third-party assessment report, international investors and financial institutions remain concerned about the reliability of Chinese technology, equipment and their performance in actual projects. Fitchtner’s engagement shows SUPCON SOLAR’s confidence in its technology, equipment quality, and plant performance. The results also demonstrate SUPCON SOLAR’s advanced and mature technology, equipment and operation strategy in molten salt tower CSP system. This will build great confidence of international investors, financial institutions and related parties in Chinese tower CSP technology, leading to stronger presence of Chinese CSP players on international stage.
Background of the Fichtner ：
Fichtner is the largest independent engineering consultancy company in Germany. Since the late 1970s, Fichtner is active in the field of CSP and has since then successfully executed more than 130 assignments in relation to solar thermal projects in over 35 different countries, covering all the implementation stages of the project, mainly serving as owner’s engineer, technical consultant, financing consultant, etc. Currently, Fichtner is providing its engineering and consulting services in around 10 CSP projects with a total capacity of more than 1GW, including Noor Ouarzazate and Noor Midelt projects in Morocco, DEWA4 project in Dubai, etc.
Background of the Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant ：
SUPCON SOLAR Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant is one of China’s CSP Demonstration Projects, with an installed capacity of 50MW and a 7-hours molten salt storage system. The designed electricity production is 146GWh/year and the project can save 46,000 tons standard coal and reduce 121,000 tons CO2 emissions.
Zhejiang SUPCON SOLAR Technology Co., Ltd. has provided the overall design, integrated supply of solar collector system, molten salt receiver, process package of TES and SGS, whole plant commissioning service, whole process construction management, operation guidance and optimization service for the project.
The project construction started in Mar. 2017, and was synchronized to the grid in Dec. 30, 2018, and reached full-load operation in April 17, 2019. From July 26, 2019 to July 25, 2020 (which is consistent with the Grid Operator's one year data), the cumulative electricity production was 121.82GWh, out of which 110.03GWh was delivered to the grid. The fulfillment rate achieved 88.6% (taking into all influencing factors). If the impact of grid curtailment is excluded, the fulfillment rate is 94.35%.
