Solar to be integrated with coal plant

Solar-Integrated Power Plant uses CSP parabolic trough collectors by Abengoa Solar to boost a unit at Xcel Energy in Colorado, adding 4 MWth solar heat to improve efficiency and cut CO2 emissions.

Abengoa Solar has been selected by Xcel Energy to build a demonstration parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plant at its Cameo coal plant near Grand Junction, Colorado.

The project is one of the first to integrate an industrial solar installation, similar to the first hybrid solar/coal plant now operating, into a conventional electrical power plant.

The 4-thermal-megawatt (MWth) solar installation will use parabolic trough collectors developed by Abengoa Solar, leveraging its Solucar platform know-how today.

Construction is expected to start within a month and the plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year. The project, awarded to Abengoa Solar by Xcel, whose shift toward solar continues, is the first project under an Innovative Clean Technology program that has been approved for Xcel Energy by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

The goal of the project is to prove that the heat produced by a solar facility can increase the efficiency of a conventional power plant, as explored in solar augmentation projects across NG and coal fleets today, while also lowering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Successful integration of this technology may enable future large-scale applications of this technology into other power plants. The 4-thermal-megawatt solar installation will use parabolic trough collectors developed by Abengoa Solar.

"We continue to move forward in developing ways to help us reduce our impact on the environment," said David Wilks, president of energy supply for Xcel Energy. "If this demonstration works, we may be able to implement this type of technological advance in other coal-fired power plants, aligning with clean-coal plans under review, to help further reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Colorado and possibly other areas of our service territory."

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