Hybrid Solar Tower Pilot Plants for Co-Generation of Heat and Power for Brazilian Agro-industry

A currently undergoing project of two 100 kWel central tower receiver concentrating solar power pilot plants for co-generation of heat and electricity for agro-industrial consumers is being presented. A strong agroindustrial sector and high solar resource make Brazil an ideal candidate for such a system. Grid-independent energy availability is ensured by hybrid firing of the plants' micro-turbines with bio-diesel. A steady-statebased model using DNI (Direct Normal Irradiance) values calculated from measured GHI (Global Horizontal Irradiance), using the DISC model, is applied to predict the yearly production of electricity of one of the plants and its degree of coverage of the associated slaughterhouse's requirements. An optical efficiency matrix of the heliostat field was obtained through ray-tracing simulations using the dedicated software tool Tonatiuh. Calculated yearly solar electricity production is 137 MWh, 76.5% of which can be used by the slaughterhouse, covering 48.5% of its consumption, the remainder being covered by bio-diesel. 23.5% of the produced solar electricity can be supplied to the grid. The yearly solar-to-electricity efficiency of the plant is 11.3%.