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，再加上储电选择的高昂成本，意味着世界上大部分基本负荷和峰值电力需求仍然依赖化石燃料。集中式太阳能发电(CSP)通过集成廉价、耐用和持久的热能存储解决了这一问题，这些热能存储可以在太阳下山后发电。牛津大学的风险投资支持的工程分支Odqa通过其专有的航空航天热捕获系统来增加CSP的热量，该系统提高了接收器塔的运行温度，释放了功率块中高温循环的使用，并将功率输出提高了100%。这种发电量的增加显著降低了产生的电价，使其与所有其他形式的可调度电力相比具有成本竞争力。Odqa的CSP设计具有众多优势，缩小到1-10兆瓦的微型电网现在是可能的，并为撒哈拉以南拥有丰富太阳能资源的非洲国家提供了一个机会，为遭受能源贫困的偏远城镇供电。由这笔赠款资助的项目将是一项可行性研究，评估我们新的CSP系统的可行性，以在目前未通电的纳米比亚地区用作1-10兆瓦的微型电网。这项研究的结果将是1-10兆瓦的微型电网系统的系统设计和详细的成本分析，以及当地工业提供的电气化和创造就业机会的潜在影响，以及建造CSP工厂对该区域贫困家庭的潜在影响。这项研究将被用于在该地区建设一个试点工厂的中期应用。该项目还将调查利用海水淡化厂过程产生的热量来增加获得清洁水的可能性。最后，Odqa希望这项可行性研究可以被用作证据，证明CSP技术即使对农村地区也更经济，从而鼓励纳米比亚政府投资于光伏发电的替代品，同时受益于该国丰富的太阳能资源。

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.