Modelling of a Central Tower Receiver Power Plant

To evaluate the performance of a central tower receiver power plant (CTRPP), a model is required to predict its energy output. Normally, the CTRPP performance depends on many physical parameters like site location, typical weather conditions, solar radiation incident angle, block factor, cosine factor, and shadow factor. Several models and software programs have been used to analyze the performance of CSP technologies. However, these models may be inappropriate to evaluate the power system reliability. This chapter describes the data and operation method of CTRPP. In addition, it presents a simplified mathematical model for all components of CTR plant to predict the performance and characteristics of the CTR system. The mathematical modelling for CTRPP is addressed from a reasonably simplified model perspective.