Plant	Gemasolar Thermosolar(Solar TRES)
Location	Fuentes de Andalucía Sevilla Andalusia Spain
Owner(s)	Masdar, Sener
Capacity (MW)	20 MW
Construction Start Date	Feb. 2009
Construction End Date	2011
Generation Start Year	2011
Construction Cost (EUR)	EUR 230 mil
Specific Cost ($/kW)	17909.3
LCOE ($/kWh)	0.28
Heliostat Aperture Area (m²)	120
Heliostat Manufacturer	Sener Spain
Heliostat Model	HE54
Mirror Manufacturer	Guardian USA
Heliostat Dimension	11.5m x 10.4m
Heliostat Facets (C x R)	7x5
Solar Field Area (m²)	304750
Tower Height (m)	140
Receiver Height (m)	14.22
Receiver Fluid	Molten Salts (Potassium and Sodium Nitrates)
Receiever Manufacturer	ITP JV: Sener, Rolls Royce Spain
Number of Heliostats	2650
Tower Position (Lat/Long)	37.562, -5.33

General Plant Data

·         Location: Fuentes de Andalucía Sevilla Andalusia Spain

·         Owner(s): Masdar, Sener

·         Capacity (MW): 20 MW

Source: https://www.grupocobra.com/en/proyecto/gemasolar-solar-thermal-power-plant/

Plant Timeline

·         Construction Start Date: Feb. 2009

·         Construction End Date: 2011

·         Generation Start Year: 2011

Plant Costs

·         Construction Cost (EUR): EUR230 mil

·         Specific Cost ($/kW): 17909.3

·         LCOE ($/kWh): 0.28

Heliostat Design

·         Heliostat Aperture Area (m²): 120

·         Heliostat Manufacturer: Sener Spain

·         Heliostat Model: HE54

·         Mirror Manufacturer: Guardian USA

·         Heliostat Dimension: 11.5m x 10.4m

·         Heliostat Facets (C x R): 7x5

·         Solar Field Area (m²): 304750

Source: https://www.renewable-technology.com/projects/gemasolar-concentrated-solar-power-seville/

Source: https://mappingdesignww.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/united-arab-emirates-gemasolar-thermosolar-plant-generates-electricity-at-night-2011-ongoing/

Tower/Receiver

·         Tower Height (m): 140

·         Receiver Height (m): 14.22

·         Receiver Fluid: Molten Salts (Potassium and Sodium Nitrates)

·         Receiever Manufacturer: ITP JV: Sener, Rolls Royce Spain

Source: https://www.power-technology.com/projects/gemasolar-concentrated-solar-power/

Plant Layout

·         Number of Heliostats: 2650

·         Tower Position (Lat/Long): 37.562, -5.33

Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/58480605/Artificial-Circles/modules/344131615

Lessons Learned

Gemasolar is the world's first commercial plant employing central tower technology and molten salt system. It paves the way for a new era in thermosolar power generation. The molten salt thermal storage implemented in this project enabling 15 hours of electricity production without the sunlight. The generation system and the storage system are independent, which accelerated the commissioning of the plant, since the generation system start up can work no matter what the weather conditions are. Finally, the plant started supplying power to the grid from May 2011, and became the first CSP to generate electricity for 24 hours continuously.

Source:Burgaleta, Juan Ignacio, Santiago Arias, and Diego Ramirez. "Gemasolar, the first tower thermosolar commercial plant with molten salt storage." SolarPACES, Granada, Spain (2011): 20-23.

 

Other Sources:

[1] “Gemasolar Thermosolar Plant / Solar TRES | Concentrating Solar Power Projects | NREL.” Solarpaces.nrel.gov, solarpaces.nrel.gov/project/gemasolar-thermosolar-plant-solar-tres.

Link: https://solarpaces.nrel.gov/project/gemasolar-thermosolar-plant-solar-tres

[2] “Home - System Advisor Model (SAM).” Nrel.gov, 2018, sam.nrel.gov/.

Link: https://sam.nrel.gov/images/web_page_files/sam_case_csp_salt_tower_gemasolar_2013-1-15.pdf