SOLARSCO2OL

Unlocking the potential of integrating sCO2 in all kinds of CSP plants

Business Period Project Coordinator Funding Scheme
Energy October 2020 - September 2024 RINA Consulting S.p.A. H2020

Challenge

According to the JRC CSP platform, with an increased efficiency of component and price reduction, it could be feasible that 11 % of EU electricity will be produced by solar thermal electricity by 2050.

sCO2 is globally attracting more and more industrial interest, but also EU stakeholders haven’t had the opportunity to test MW scale turbomachinery on real EU operating
plants yet.

For this reason, the main objective of SOLARSCO2OL project is to demonstrate an innovative, economically viable and easily replicable sCO2 power block that, also coupled with fast reactive electric heater and efficient heat exchangers (HEXs), will enable the operation and design of a novel integrated power plant layout in order to 

  • un-tap Concentrated Solar Power(CSP)  plant potential flexibility
  • reduce their Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) to values below 10 c€/kWh.

The technological solution will be deployed and demonstrate in a real CSP plant in Spain (La Africana) and studied for replication also in extra-EU countries for example in “Noor III solar tower plant” in Morocco thanks to MASEN support. 

Approach

RINA is the Project Coordinator of SOLARSCO2OL. 

Moreover, we are going to be in charge of the following activities:

  • support to sCO2 turbomachinery design, manufacturing and material selection via CFD/FEM analysis
  • Health & Safety procedures for SOLARSCO2OL Demonstration and Replication
  • Regulatory and non-technical assessment of SOLARSCO2OL solutions
  • Techno-economic Roadmap towards TRL9

Conclusion

In conclusion, SOLARSCO2OL Project Consortium will collect all the technological and nontechnological evidences to unlock the potential of integrating sCO2 in all kinds of CSP plants towards higher efficiency and higher responsiveness to grid flexibility requests, demonstrating them on the field and planning
next steps towards technical maturity and marketability within 2030, also studying sCO2 application in other market segments (industrial application, waste heat, other thermal RES).

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 952953.

Project Consortium

1. RINA Consulting S.p.A. - Italy 2. KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOL - Sweden 3. MOROCCAN AGENCY FOR SOLAR ENERGY SA - Morocco 4. IKERLAN S. COOP - Spain 5. UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA - Italy 6. ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS - Greece7. MAGTEL OPERACIONES SL - Spain 8. FRANCO TOSI MECCANICA SPA - Italy 9. EUROPEAN SOLAR THERMAL ELECTRICITY ASSOCIATION - Belgium 10. MAS AE PROIGMENES TECHNOLOGIES ENERGEIAS KAI ISCHYOS - Greece 11. INGENIERIA Y TECNICAS DE MONTAJES LOINTEK SL – Spain 12. NUOVO PIGNONE SRL - Italy 13. SEICO HEIZUNGEN GMBH - Germany 14. ABENGOA ENERGIA SA - Spain 15. OCMIOTG SPA - Italy 1

Laura Bertolacci