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A techno-economic evaluation of utility scale solar power generation

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  • Shakeel, Mohammad Raghib
  • Mokheimer, Esmail M.A.

Abstract

Techno-economic analysis of utility scale parabolic trough collector (PTC) and photovoltaic (PV) plants is carried out for 40 cities in Saudi Arabia. The PTC- and PV-based utility scale plants with and without storage are compared based on various techno-economic parameters and their ability to satisfactorily provide constant power to the load. Previous work available in the literature focused on either PV or PTC technologies without storage. The plants are designed to act as constant load plants capable of producing 150 MWe. The analysis revealed that the LCOE for the PTC-based plant with 9-h thermal energy storage varied between 0.093 and 0.132 USD/kWh while that of PV-based plants with 9-h battery storage capacity, varied between 0.121 and 0.156 USD/kWh. However, the Annual Load Satisfaction Factor (ALSF) was found to be 0.58–0.74 for the PV-based plants in comparison with 0.47–0.73 for that of the PTC-based plant. The net present value (NPV) of the PTC-based plants were found to be higher than that of the PV-based plants. The benefit to cost ratio (BCR) of the PTC-based plant varied between 0.939 and 1.280 (with an average of 1.105) while that of the PV-based plant was found to be 0.903–1.062 (with an average of 0.984).

Suggested Citation

  • Shakeel, Mohammad Raghib & Mokheimer, Esmail M.A., 2022. "A techno-economic evaluation of utility scale solar power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:261:y:2022:i:pa:s036054422202062x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.125170
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    2. Benalcazar, Pablo & Komorowska, Aleksandra & Kamiński, Jacek, 2024. "A GIS-based method for assessing the economics of utility-scale photovoltaic systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).

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