Xcel switches on hybrid solar-coal power plant

[Right Lane Cruiser]

“If this project produces the successful results we expect, this type of solar thermal integration will help move the use of solar energy one step closer."

Cathy Proctor - BIZJOURNALS - June 30, 2010

Will this become a template for other power generation companies? --Ed.

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc. has started operating an experimental Colorado power plant, called Cameo, which uses both solar power and coal to produce electricity.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved the Grand Junction-area project, estimated to cost about $4.5 million, in May 2009, and it broke ground last August. It’s Xcel’s first demonstration project through its Innovative Clean Technology (ICT) Program, to test new technologies that offer the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions but haven’t been deployed in the utility industry.

Cameo, which is slated for shutdown by the end of 2010, was converted to test the use parabolic-trough mirrors, designed by Abengoa Solar, a Spanish company that has its U.S. headquarters in Lakewood.

The mirrors focus the sun’s heat on a line of tubes filled with food-grade mineral oil. The oil is heated to about 575 degrees Fahrenheit, then the heat is transferred, heating water to about 360 degrees, according to Xcel.

The project includes eight rows of mirrors, 500 feet long, covering 6.4 acres, according to Xcel (NYSE: XEL).

The solar-heated water then is transferred to the 49-megawatt power plant’s existing coal-fired boiler, and heated to higher temperatures to produce the... [Read More]

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

This is very interesting, since it's pairing a variable renewable with a base-load generation source.

[Nevyn]

Wait, it's not an article about Wayne?

[PaleMelanesian]

Well, that makes sense! Use the variable solar to augment the base-load coal, reducing the demand for coal fuel during the daytime. At night, all you have to do is feed it proportionally more coal. There's no need to store the excess solar energy, since it goes directly into the main generator and out to the grid.

*smacks forehead* Why didn't I think of that!?

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Nevyn

Wait, it's not an article about Wayne?

Well, nobody said exactly who pushed the button to turn it on.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian

Well, that makes sense! Use the variable solar to augment the base-load coal, reducing the demand for coal fuel during the daytime. At night, all you have to do is feed it proportionally more coal. There's no need to store the excess solar energy, since it goes directly into the main generator and out to the grid.

*smacks forehead* Why didn't I think of that!?

One of the issues with renewables is supposedly that base-load power can't be adjusted quickly to cope with changes in supply, in contrast with peak natural gas stations. I know this is solar-thermal, but I wonder how efficiently they can adjust the coal feed as the solar energy changes.

I guess this is trying to find out.

[PaleMelanesian]

Another benefit: solar thermal is much simpler, cheaper and more efficient than solar electric.