A novel three-tank storage system for east-west oriented Fresnel solar plants: Comparative analysis with parabolic trough collectors

The present study has analyzed the effects of implementing a recently patented three-tank thermal energy storage (TES) system in an East-West oriented Fresnel-based plant. Due to the flexibility given by the proposed molten salts TES system, two different storage management strategies are considered. A techno-economic comparative analysis has been conducted with both North-South Fresnel and parabolic trough collector plants fitted with state-of-the-art two-tank TES. Results show an increase of more than 10% in annual plant efficiency compared to conventional North-South Fresnel plants based in high latitude locations, i.e. Almeria (Spain). Besides, the proposed TES system implemented in East-West Fresnel plants provides a competitive levelized cost of energy when the optimum storage strategy is used.