Our Projects

Offices, plants and installations

Our Projects

Solnova I

Location: Sanlúcar la Mayor, Sevilla.

Type of Project: 50 MW Trough Plant.

Solnova 1 and 3, each have a capacity of 50 MW.They are the first of a total of 5 plants that will be constructed at the Solucar Platform.

Solnova 1 trough	Solnova 1 Location

Solnova 1 has a design power rating of 50 MW. Based on the local solar resource, the plant is predicted to deliver 114.6 GWh of clean energy per year. That is enough to supply 25,700 homes and to reduce CO2 emissions by more than 31,200 tons per year. To supplement power generation under conditions of low solar radiation, Solnova 1 is equipped to burn natural gas. This can be used to deliver 12-15% of the plant output. At peak conditions, the plant converts available solar radiation into heat at an efficiency near 57%.Combined with the efficiency of the steam cycle, the overall plant efficiency is approximately 19%.

As shown below, the solar trough field heats a synthetic heat transfer oil.Energy in the oil is used to generate superheated, high pressure steam that is delivered to a steam turbine.This turbine powers a electrical generator with acapacity of 50 MW.

Solnova 1 scheme

The Solnova 1 plant has 90 loops that each have four trough collectors. Each trough collector is composed of 12 modules linked together. Each module is 41 ft (12.5 m) long and 18.9 ft (5.76 m) wide. The collectors individually track the sun in one-axles using a drive mechanism located at the center of the collector. Rows of collectors are separated at a distance to avoid row-to-row shading and for access for maintenance.

Solnova 1 Trough	Side of a Trough

The trough research being done by Abengoa Solar is making important contributions to the development of trough technology.

» For more information about tower technology, please download our Trough Technology White-paper

Links

Trough Technology

Trough plants for utilities

Download our White Paper for Trough Technology