The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has launched a project to help electric power companies add solar energy to fossil-fueled electric power plants to reduce fuel costs and plant emissions.
Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association, Inc., Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) and Southern Company are participating in the project, which will involve adding steam generated by a solar thermal field to the coal-fired steam cycle at plants in New Mexico and North Carolina.
The project follows a similar initiative launched launched in October, 2008 at natural gas-fueled facilities.
“These projects will demonstrate a near-term and cost-effective way to use large amounts of solar energy at commercial scale to provide clean electric power,” said Dr. Bryan Hannegan, vice president of Generation and Environment at EPRI. “These ‘hybrid power plants’ will combine the low-cost reliability of existing fossil power plants with the environmental benefit of renewables, and help companies meet federal and state mandates to reduce their emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases with renewable energy.”
The projects will provide a conceptual design study and two detailed case studies. Design options to retrofit existing plants will be analyzed and new plant design options will be identified.
EPRI, which is an independent, nonprofit organization, holds two patents in solar steam cycle optimization.
Using solar to augment coal or natural gas potentially is the lowest-cost option for adding solar power to the generation fleet, as it utilizes existing plant assets. And because the highest-intensity solar energy typically is within a few hours of peak summer loads, it makes solar augmented steam cycles a particularly attractive renewable energy option.
“We hope this technology can become an option for cost-effective solar power generation in the Southeast. These projects are part of our commitment to develop new technologies to meet the demand for reliable and cleaner electricity,” said Steve Wilson, Southern Company director of research and technology management.
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