Techno-economic analysis of a solar tower CSP Plant with thermal energy storage in southern Honduras

For many years, solar thermal energy has been relegated to second place to photovoltaic solar energy in terms of electricity generation. At the end of the 1980s, an alternative to solar photovoltaic plants emerged, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology. This type of technology presents a commercial option for grid-connected solar plants for the utility market due to its high performance and efficiency in energy conversion, as well as its clean generation of electricity without greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, in Honduras the use of solar thermal energy is reduced to heating processes and product sanitation in the industrial sector, wasting the country’s great solar thermal potential. This document focuses on the evaluation of a Solar Tower CSP plant with 10 hours thermal storage in the southern area of Honduras, analyzing the departments of Valle and Choluteca. The methodology used for this research is a quantitative approach based on collecting meteorological data of the solar resource in the area and costs associated with the plant, this to test a hypothesis. This evaluation was carried out from a technical, economic and environmental point of view. The research managed to determine values of Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and project recovery period for the different scenarios presented in the two departments analyzed. Putting all the results together, it was found that the department of Valle has the lowest LCOE compared to the department of Choluteca. Likewise, the values of NPV, IRR and recovery period determine that the project is more profitable in the department of Valle.

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