Title: Techno economic performances of a dry cooling solar power tower plant under Algerian climate

Authors: Mohamed Abbas; Zoubir Belgroun; Nachida Kasbadji Merzouk

Addresses: Unité de Développement des Equipements Solaires (UDES)/Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables (CDER), Route Nationale No. 11, BP 386 Bou Ismail, Tipaza, Algeria ' Unité de Développement des Equipements Solaires (UDES)/Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables (CDER), Route Nationale No. 11, BP 386 Bou Ismail, Tipaza, Algeria ' Unité de Développement des Equipements Solaires (UDES)/Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables (CDER), Route Nationale No. 11, BP 386 Bou Ismail, Tipaza, Algeria

Abstract: The Sahara represents more than 80% of the total area of Algeria. This region is characterised by the high level of solar energy potential. On the other hand, concentrating solar power plants represent 70% of the total power to be installed in the framework of the national plan of renewable energy and energy efficiency which consists of installing up 22,000 MW of power generating capacity from renewable sources between 2011 and 2030. In this purpose, this article presents a techno economic assessment of a 100 MW of solar power tower plant for electricity generation located in one typical site of the Saharan environment of Algeria (Tamanrasset). The NREL's solar advisor model (SAM) software is used to evaluate the monthly energy production, annual energy output, levelised cost of energy (LCOE) and the net present value (NPV) for this study.

Keywords: solar energy; solar power tower plants; electricity generation; techno-economic performance; solar advisor model; SAM; Algeria; Sahara; energy production; energy output; levelised cost of energy; LCOE; net present value; NPV.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETP.2014.066325

International Journal of Energy Technology and Policy, 2014 Vol.10 No.2, pp.109 - 124

Accepted: 13 Apr 2014
Published online: 27 Dec 2014 *

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