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PS10: The first commercial tower of the world

Location Sanlúcar la Mayor, Sevilla.

Type of Project: 11 MW Tower Technology.

The PS10 tower installation is the result of several years of research and development conducted by Abengoa Solar. It will be the first solar tower in the world to commercially generate electricity and deliver it reliably to the gid.

PS Tower	PS10 location

The PS 10 solar plant incorporates thermal storage that allows full production for 30 minutes. Thermal storage can boost power production under low radiation conditions. Additionally, the PS10 can use natural gas for 12-15% of its electrical production. The PS10 will generate 24.3 GWh per year of clean energy which is enough to supply 5,500 households.

As depicted by the schematic below, PS10 uses the steam produced by the solar field to operate a conventional power cycle. The installed capacity of the system is 11 MW.

The PS10 solar field is composed of 624 Sanlúcar 120 heliostats. Each heliostat is 1291 ft2 (120 m²), which means the entire heliostat field is has an area of 75,000 m2.Each heliostat tracks the sun in two axes and concentrates the radiation onto the a receiver located on the upper part of the 377 ft (115 m) tower.

The PS10 receiver was designed by Abengoa Solar NT for the direct generation of saturated steam. The receiver is composed of four vertical panels that are each 18 ft (5.5 m) wide and 39 ft (12 m) tall. The panels are arranged in a semicylindrical configuration inside a cavity with an opening of 11m x 11m (36 ft x 36 ft). At design conditions, the receiver delivers 55 MWth of saturated steam at 495 F (257 C). The efficiency of conversion of incident sunlight into steam is better than 92%.

PS10 cooling towers	PS10 Storage tanks

Currently, a second generation tower, the PS20, is under construction at the Solucar Solar Park. Operation of the plant will be similar to the PS10, but the PS20 will have twice the capacity of the PS10 and will therefore supply the electricity needs of 12,000 households. The solar field will consist of 1,255 heliostats (120 m2 each) and a 160 m high tower. Abengoa Solar will continue its research into improving tower technology while gaining valuable experience from the construction and operation of the PS20.

» For more information, please download our Tower Technology White-paper

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Download our White Paper on Tower Technology