Life cycle assessment (LCA) of a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in tower configuration with different storage capacity in molten salts

Although studies on the levelized cost of energy (LCoE) of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants were published in recent years, these studies were not related to the environmental impact generated. To fill this literature gap, this study compares the environmental impacts generated by four tower s...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gasa, Gemma, Prieto, Cristina, López-Román, Antón, Cabeza, Luisa F.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/83636
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2022.105219
http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/83636
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Concentrating solar power (CSP) plant
Tower plant
Thermal energy storage (TES)
Storage capacity
Life cycle assessment (LCA)
Environmental impact
Descripción
Sumario:Although studies on the levelized cost of energy (LCoE) of concentrating solar power (CSP) plants were published in recent years, these studies were not related to the environmental impact generated. To fill this literature gap, this study compares the environmental impacts generated by four tower solar thermal plants with different storage capacities, 3, 6, 9, and 17.5 equivalent hours in nominal conditions were considered, being the plant of 17.5 h, a plant in operation. Results show that the environmental impacts generated throughout its useful life decrease when storage capacity increases. But when the storage capacity goes from 9 h to 17.5 h, the impacts generated are practically the same. Of the four plants analyzed, the most environmentally efficient plant is the one with a storage capacity of 9 h.