Solar power plant Andasol 3: assembly of all parabolic trough collectors completed, RWE
Release Date: 2010-06-14
The construction works for the joint solar thermal power plant Andasol 3 are on schedule. Now one important construction progress, the assembly of the parabolic trough collectors for the solar field of Andasol 3, has been completed. A total of 7,296 collectors was assembled and anchored in the solar field. Each collector unit is 12 meters long and weighs approximately 2.5 tons. The power plant extends over a surface of about two square kilometers – equaling more or less the area of the Principality of Monaco. Andasol 3 is being realized by Stadtwerke München, RWE Innogy, RheinEnergie Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium. The construction of the power plant block is also on schedule. At the moment, the turbine pedestal, which will later support the steam turbine, is being completed. The turbine itself is currently undergoing final inspection at the manufacturer MAN Diesel & Turbo. It consists of a high-pressure and a low-pressure module and was especially developed and optimized for the use in the Andasol power plant. “As opposed to conventional power plants, a solar-powered turbine has to be designed to allow being started and shut down on a daily basis, depending on the availability of steam”, Herbert Spelleken, the responsible project manager at Flagsol, the joint venture of Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium, explains the distinctive features of the system. In late June, the enormous machine weighing 160 tons will commence its journey to Spain per ship and truck in order to be installed in the power plant block. At the same time, the tubing and cabling work continues at the solar field. In mid 2011, the power plant is expected to start feeding solar electricity into the Spanish grid.
Andasol 3 is the third power plant developed by Solar Millennium at this location on a plateau between Granada and Almeria. Together with its sister projects Andasol 1 and 2, located in the direct vicinity of Andasol 3, the 50 megawatt plant will supply roughly half a million people with climate-friendly electricity, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by some 450,000 tons compared to a modern coal-fired power station. Thanks to integrated thermal storage, the power plants are also able to reliably provide solar electricity after sunset.
Upon completion of the Andasol 3 power plant, around 210,000 parabolic mirrors will capture the sunlight. These gigantic, arched mirrors concentrate the sun’s rays. The heat generated by doing this is transferred to a heat transfer fluid. Trough heat exchanging devices the thermal energy is transferred the thermal energy to a water/steam circuit. As in a conventional power station, this steam drives a turbine. The generator, which is attached to it, generates electricity. By means of a thermal storage system, electricity can be provided in a planned way. This thermal storage system comprises 28,500 tonnes of a special salt mixture; its capacity can run the turbine for 7.5 hours at full load. Andasol 3 is therefore able to reliably generate electricity even after the sun has set.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | RWE |
| Country: | Germany |