Genera 2024: the thermosolar could promote its use renewable technologies cannot be controlled due to the thermal storage of excess discharges. Investment in technology thermosolar It would make a major contribution to reducing the night-time use of natural gas. He thermosolar self-consumption In industrial processes, it stands out for its cost competitiveness, ranging between 20 and 50 euros per MWh.
The current cuts, which amount to 2,000 GWh/year, can be eliminated if the integration of storage is allowed into the existing park of solar thermal power plants in our country. In this way, existing access and connection points can be maximized, as Óscar Balseiro, Secretary General of the Spanish Association for the Promotion of the Thermosolar Industry (Protermosolar) during his participation in the day Present and future of Concentrated solar energy in Spain in the context of the celebration of the Genera 2024 fair.
Protermosolar has emphasized this with the promotion of new ones thermosolar plants a greater commitment renewable technologies uncontrollable by participating in daily price arbitrage and thermal storage of excess discharges from these technologies, ensuring the supply of heat for the industry even at night. Thermal storage allows energy transfer from “power to heat”, with yields close to 100%, taking advantage of the surpluses and discharges of the electrical system, which will continue to increase as a result of an increased presence of renewable energy at intervals.
The solar thermal energy plays a crucial role in the electricity system by enabling the system to become truly decarbonised, by reducing the overall cost of the system through the phase-out of fossil fuels and by reducing dependence on third countries, by providing abundance and predictability to have the primary resource needed is sun.
The event was attended by representatives of public administration and companies from the energy sector, including Jesús Ferrero, Deputy Director General of Renewable Energy of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge; Mercedes Ballesteros, Deputy Director General of CIEMAT’s Energy Department; María Luisa Castaño, director of CIEMAT’s energy department; Toni Fersini, Executive Director of Fersisolar; Miguel Frasquet, CEO of Solatom; Carlos Montoya, Head of IDAE’s Solar and Self-consumption Division; Rafael Menéndez, Senior Director-Head of Strategy at Afry; and Sandra Cubero, project engineer at Protermosolar.
The most important solar thermal system in the integration of renewable energy sources in Spain
Protermosolar has defended the role of solar thermal technology as a controllable renewable source that, together with others such as hydraulics or biomass, can provide the necessary support to intermittent renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaics and wind energy. Solar thermal energy is available to provide renewable, robust energy in critical system situations and is in a production range of 2,400 to 4,000 hours, corresponding to full load, compared to 1,800-2,000 for photovoltaics or 2,400-3,000 for wind energy. Moreover, it is a manageable technology that can be complementary to solar technology thanks to its storage.
Solar thermal energy: essential for decarbonizing the industrial sector
The technology thermosolar makes a real and effective contribution to the decarbonization of the industrial sector, as it is a renewable alternative to the consumption of fossil fuels for the generation of heat at medium and high temperatures in industrial processes in sectors such as the food and beverage industry, the chemistry and district heating, pharmaceutical products, paper, textiles, in processes such as bleaching, cooking, cleaning, distilling, drying, hot water production, pasteurization, sterilization, washing, etc.
In this sense, it is transcendental to appreciate the large theoretical application potential for industrial processes in Spain, which amounts to 36.8 GW. In the European context, the installed capacity could reach 150 GW of thermal power in 2030. Even if we stick to the economic level, technology will thermosolar for this type of processes, it stands out for its cost competitiveness, €20 to €50/MWh, which makes it below the cost of gas, and for its profitability and recyclability, as highlighted Protermosolar.