Performance Comparative Analysis of Three Different CSP Technologies Integrated with Gas Turbine Cogeneration Systems in Saudi Arabia

The present work provides an investigation of the technical and economic feasibility of integrating Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies with cogeneration gas turbine systems that are progressively being installed in Saudi Arabia. Different designs of hybrid solar/fossil fuel gas turbine cogeneration systems have been proposed. These designs consider the possible integration of Solar Tower (ST), Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC), and Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) systems with conventional gas turbine cogeneration systems. These three CSP technologies were assessed for possible integration with a gas turbine cogeneration system that generates steam at a constant flow rate of 81.44 kg/s at P = 45.88 (bar) and temperature of T = 394°C throughout the year in addition to the generation of electricity. THERMOFLEX with PEACE simulation software has been used to assess the performance of the integrated solar gas turbine cogeneration plant (ISGCP) for different gas turbine sizes under Dhahran weather conditions. Thermo-economic comparative analysis have been conducted to reach the optimal levelized electricity cost (LEC) and CO₂ emission combination for each ISGCP configuration for each the three CSP technologies in comparison with the integration of CO₂ capture technology to the conventional plant. The simulation results revealed that the optimal configuration is the integration of LFR with the steam side of a gas turbine cogeneration plant of 50 MWe, which gives a LEC of 5.1 US / kWh with 119 k tonne reduction of the annual CO₂ emission.