Would you like to add solar to your order?

Solar energy augmentation projects are being cooked up world over. Traditional coal and natural gas-fired plants are adding solar to their plants -- both as a way to generate more power, but perhaps also as a way to create a more positive public image.

On April 13, Areva was awarded a contract to install a solar thermal addition to CS Energy’s coal-fired Kogan Creek power station in Queensland, Australia. Adding solar energy to the Kogan Creek power station will increase its output by up to 44 MW in peak solar conditions to the current 750 MW.

Solar boosts like these are taking place in the U.S. as well. My colleague Brian Wheeler wrote a story for our May issue of Power Engineering on Florida Power & Light’s Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center located near Indiantown, Fla., which started operations in December 2010. Thousands of parabolic mirrors concentrate the sun’s thermal energy onto heat collection elements that contain a heat transfer fluid called Dowtherm A. The fluid heats up and is pumped through heat exchangers, producing steam from feed water supplied by the existing plant. The steam is sent to existing Nooter-Erikson combined-cycle heat recovery steam generators. It is expected that 100 additional megawatts with be generated through this steam process, adding to the pre-existing 1,150 MW of generation.

Various studies are taking place to increase the effectiveness of solar-augmented coal plants, such as at Tri-State’s 245 MW Escalante Station in Prewitt, N.M. With a goal of increasing power plant efficiency while incorporating renewable technologies, Tri-State entered into an agreement with the Electric Power Research Institute in 2009 to host the case study. The ongoing project attempts to provide a conceptual design study, analyze options to retrofit the existing power plant and identify new plant design options.

Here are a few reasons why adding solar to an existing facility just makes sense:
1. Cooling. In the case of the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center and other CSP projects, the water needed for cooling is already available via feed water from the existing plant.

2. Transmission. Existing power plants are already connected to the grid, preventing problems with access to transmission that new concentrated solar power (CSP) plants often face.
3. Financials. Advocates of solar augmentation also argue that the technique achieves higher thermal to electric conversion efficiency and potentially lower costs compared to stand-alone solar facilities. Also, the addition of a solar component allows access to renewable energy credit markets and other fiscal incentives for clean energy.

For more on traditional power plants that have added solar to their “generation menu,” check out this story that ran in the November 2010 Power Engineering. Order up!