Techno-economic assessment of thermal energy storage solutions for a 1Â MWe CSP-ORC power plant

This paper discusses the cited design criteria and presents an analysis aimed at identifying the potential storage solutions to be implemented into a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant for electricity generation operating at temperatures between (170 °C) and (300 °C). The system so developed will be integrated in the 1 MWe CSP-ORC facility based on Fresnel technology that is currently under construction at Iresen's premises in Benguerir, Morocco. Detailed transient models of performance of two-tank and thermocline storage systems are presented. The annual simulations carried out reveal that thermocline solutions are globally more attractive, since they exhibit similar thermal performance but at a much lower (30% lower) cost.