Mini-grid scale CSP feasibility project for off-grid applications in Namibia

风能和太阳能光伏发电的间歇性，加上电力储存的高成本，意味着世界仍然依赖化石燃料来满足大部分基本负荷和峰值电力需求。聚光太阳能（CSP）解决了这个问题，它集成了廉价、耐用和持久的热能储存，可以在太阳下山后用于发电。Odqa是一家由牛津大学（University of Oxford）投资支持的工程衍生公司，该公司利用其专有的航空航天热捕获系统提高CSP的热量，从而提高接收塔的工作温度，解锁电源模块的高温循环，并将功率输出提高到100%。电力输出的增加大大降低了电力价格，使其与所有其他形式的可调度电力相比具有成本竞争力。由于Odqa的CSP设计提供了许多优势，缩小到1-10MW的微型电网现在是可能的，这为拥有高太阳能资源的撒哈拉以南非洲国家提供了一个机会，为饱受能源贫困的偏远城镇供电。这笔赠款资助的项目将是一项可行性研究，评估我们的新CSP系统在纳米比亚目前未通电的地区作为1-10MW微型电网使用的可行性。这项研究的结果将是系统设计和详细分析提供热电的1-10兆瓦微型电网系统的成本，以及当地工业提供的电气化和创造就业机会的潜在影响，以及建设CSP工厂对该地区贫困家庭的影响。然后，这项研究将用于在该地区建造一个试验工厂的中期申请。该项目还将研究利用该过程产生的热量为海水淡化厂提供更多清洁水的可能性。最后，Odqa希望这项可行性研究可以作为证据，证明CSP技术即使在农村地区也更经济，从而鼓励纳米比亚政府投资光伏发电的替代品，同时受益于该国庞大的太阳能资源。

The intermittency of wind and solar PV electricity generation, in combination with the high cost of electricity storage options, means the world still relies on fossil fuels for the majority of its base-load and peak electricity demand. Concentrated solar power (CSP) solves this issue by integrating cheap, durable, and long-lasting thermal energy storage, which can be used to generate electricity after the sun has gone down.Odqa, a venture backed engineering spin-out from the University of Oxford, turns up the heat on CSP with its proprietary aerospace heat capture system, which increases the operating temperature of the receiver tower, unlocks the use of high temperature cycles in the power block, and raises the power output by up to 100%. This increase in power output significantly reduces the price of electricity produced, making it cost-competitive with all other forms of dispatchable power.With the numerous advantages that Odqa's CSP design offers, a scale-down to a mini-grid 1-10MW is now a possibility and provides an opportunity for sub-saharan African countries with high solar energy resource to electrify remote towns suffering from energy poverty.The project funded by this grant would be a feasibility study assessing the viability of scaling down our new CSP system for use as a 1-10MW mini-grid in a currently un-electrified part of Namibia.The outcome of this study would be a system design and detailed analysis of costs for a 1-10MW mini-grid system providing heat and electricity, and the potential impact of electrification and job creation provided by local industries and as a result of building CSP plants on poor households in the region. This study would then be used for a mid-stage application to construct a pilot plant in the region.The project would also investigate the possibility of using the heat produced from the process for a desalination plant to increase access to clean water.Finally, Odqa hopes that this feasibility study could be used as evidence that CSP technology is more economical even for rural areas and thus encourage the Namibian government to invest in alternatives to PV while benefiting from the country's massive solar resource.