Results

The evaluation of the potential of this technology includes: Validation of numerical models of previously developed analysis, optimization of the geometric design of the concentrator taking into account practical manufacturing constraints (mirror size, support structures, etc.), economic analysis and scenario planning for market penetration.

Research results:

This operation aims to demonstrate the potential of ALFR technology for the production of low-cost dispatchable electricity by thermo-solar, including systems with energy storage with molten salts. In this sense, research seeks to achieve results such as:

1) Achieve global solar-electricity conversion efficiencies above 14% in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and above 16% in areas with lower latitude and higher solar radiation, such as Hurghada (Egypt);

2) Allow to achieve, in production regime, a cost below USD 8¢/kWh of LCOE (Level Cost of Electricity).

Comparative analysis:

The operation takes place on the PECS (Solar Concentrators Test Platform) and EMSP (Évora Molten Salt Platform), from the University of Évora, simultaneously with other projects currently underway such as HPS-2, PreFlexMS and NewSOL. The complementarity between these various projects allows better coordination and implementation of the system and ensures the possibility of conducting comparative studies between different technologies.

After a first phase of analysis of the results of this operation compared to previous numbers, resulting from numerical models, which will allow to detect possible gaps and perform tunings, the project focuses on a comparison of results with the cylindrical-parabolic technology installed in EMSP. This comparison allows us to understand the potential of ALFR technology, compared to a technology with a very different nature, and to prove the potential of this technology to produce unpackable electricity at low cost, in a competitive way. Currently, cylindrical-parabolic technology is the most implemented technology in the world, and there is the intention of demonstrating that ALFR technology may claim to have conversion yields similar to cylindrical-parabolic technology at a potentially lower cost (LCOE). Finally, it includes the comparison with other results for Fresnel technology present in the scientific literature, which will allow to prove the evolution of this technology.

Impacts on territorial Dynamics:

The results derived from ALFR-Alentejo will have in the short and medium term a direct impact on the regional and national economy, with regard to the future sustainable use of energy resources, in new projects where the use of the concentration of solar irradiation is fundamental, but also in the control of risks inherent in the construction and management of solar power plants, which may incorporate in their design studies the existing data on the advantages and risks in the use of this type of technologies in the proposed operating patterns.

At a subsequent level, as these innovative technological solutions require the support of the specialized industry, supplier of goods and services indispensable to this type of project, it is expected that this project will boost the sector, motivating sustained economic growth and generating jobs. The project will also support due diligence effects and the inherent financing for solar energy projects. Thus, it aims to harness the unique resources of the Alentejo in terms of solar energy, in order to promote environmental quality and public health, and also in agriculture, culture and tourism (through regional development), with the growth of the local economy and the business mobilization of different economic sectors of the region.

Intelectual property results:

CER-UÉ has opened a patent procedure on the ALFR concentrator. Following the ALFR-Alentejo project, new patent applications resulting from ongoing research, related to optical innovations of the ALFR concept, are foreseeable.

Environmental impact:

The ALFR-Alentejo project is characterized by a very reduced environmental impact, further diluted by synergies with other technologies. Some of the molten salts used for thermal storage, such as Potassium Nitrate and Sodium Nitrate, can be used as fertilizers for agriculture. This can act as a catalyst for skills and services between energy and agriculture in order to foster greater interconnection between them.