ISCC in MENA B U S I N E S S I N T E L L I G E N C E

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13 & 14th May, Dubai

In association with:

MENASOL 20157th Middle East & North Africa Conference & Expo

In association with MENASOL 2015 (13 & 14th May, Dubai), CSP Today brings you an exclusive guide on ISCC plants in MENA. It includes analysis of current ISCC projects, Saudi Arabian ISCC plants and potential future sites.

The aim of this guide is to help you maximize the opportunities of integrated solar

combined cycles in MENA. In the following pages you will discover where and how the CSP industry can expand its project pipeline for 2015 and beyond.

To learn more about the leading solar event in the Middle East and North Africa, visit:www.csptoday.com/iscc

www.csptoday.com/iscc

n ISCC: an overview

n Current ISCC projects

n Saudi Arabian ISCC

n Potential future sites

Contents

Solar ConferenCe of

the Year Winner Awarded by the Middle

East Solar Industry Association

MESIA

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ISCC in MENA

One reason is possibly because of the relatively conservative nature of policy makers and engineering firms in the region. Renewable energy is still very much in its infancy in MENA. The appetite for large, high-risk projects is still limited. Which is maybe why there is increasing interest in integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) plants. These give MENA companies a chance to try out CSP while working with a standard generating technology.

Great news for CSP in MENA, then. But the question for CSP developers is how to position their technologies to make most of this emerging opportunity… and where to find potential projects.

ISCC: an overviewISCCs are a form of hybrid power plant in which a CSP solar field is used to improve the efficiency of a combined-cycled plant (see figure 1).

Source: Prof Ulf Herrmann, from ‘National Renewable Energy Laboratory USA Trough Initiative, Integrated Solar Combined Cycle Systems’. Used with permission.

In theory, any CSP technology could be used in ISCC. However, all projects to date have relied on parabolic trough because it is the more widely established technology and may have certain advantages in the MENA region (see below). Additionally, it is important to note that there are significant challenges in converting existing combined cycle plants into ISCC projects.

Johannes Kretschmann of Fichtner, the consulting engineers firm, says: “If it’s an existing plant the design process is difficult because you are adding steam, so you need an oversized steam generator.”

For this, it is generally considered far easier to build an ISCC from scratch rather than converting existing combined cycle facilities. Furthermore, the conversion of existing combined cycle plants to ISCC requires plentiful, cheap land in a high-DNI location, not to

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a complicated region for CSP. In terms of direct normal irradiance (DNI), the area is ideal. Most of the land is desert, another bonus for CSP. And there is growing energy demand. Yet projects have been slow to take off.

Fuel

Gas turbine

Solar field

Waste Heat Recovery System

Steam Turbine

Condenser

Low Pressure PreheaterDeaeratorExpansion Vessel

Superheater + Steam Generator

Steam Generator

Preheater

Reheater

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mention a landscape that is suitable for the installation of a solar field.

Alternatively, with the right site characteristics it may be possible to convert an open cycle gas plant to ISCC with relative ease, since the steam cycle has to be incorporated in any case. Finally, Dr Luis Crespo of the European solar thermal association ESTELA points out that a potentially more efficient way of connecting gas with CSP would be to build a power tower with large amounts of molten salt storage and locate an open cycle gas plant alongside it.

With this configuration, Crespo says, excess output from either the solar field or the gas plant could be stored for later re-use, allowing more higher utilisation of both plants.

Current ISCC projectsTable 1 summarises the ISCC projects currently in operation or planned worldwide.

Parabolic trough is being used in more than half of these projects. Its dominance can be attributed to it being the most established CSP technology and therefore one that helps to reduce the risk of what is already potentially a complex project. In addition, the other technologies each have certain drawbacks that could restrict their use. For example:

�n Linear Fresnel solar fields may have difficulty achieving temperatures high enough to integrate well with combined cycle operations. �n Dish technologies only have a limited deployment history and may not be desirable for risk-averse developers. �n Power towers will suffer from attenuation losses in regions with high levels of dust or other airborne particles.

To date, MENA has been the preferred region for ISCC development. Prof Ulf Herrmann, executive director

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Project Appli-cation Country Current Status Developers Gross Capacity Techno-logy Owner

Ain-Beni-Mathar ISCC ISCC Morocco Operation Abener 20 Parabolic Trough ONE

Archimede ISCC Italy Operation ENEL 5 Parabolic Trough ENEL

Hassi-R'mel ISCC Algeria Operation Abener; Abengoa; Cofides; New Energy Algeria; 25 Parabolic Trough Sonatrach

Kuraymat ISCC ISCC Egypt Operation New and Renewable Energy Authority 20 Parabolic Trough NREA

Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center

ISCC USA Operation Florida Power and Light; Next Era Energy Resources 75 Parabolic Trough FPL

Rende CSP-Biomass Plant ISCC Italy Operation Falck Renewables 1 Fresnel MAPNA

Cascades Industrial CSP Plant Augmentation Canada Operation Cascades; Rackam; 0.14 Parabolic Trough Cascades

Agua Prieta II ISCC Mexico Construction Abengoa 12 Parabolic Trough Federal Electricity Commission

City of Medicine Hat Concentrating Solar Thermal Demonstration

ISCC Canada Construction CityofMedicineHat 1 Parabolic Trough City of Medicine Hat

Kogan Creek Solar Boost

Solar Augmentation (Coal) Australia Construction CSEnergy 44 Fresnel CS Energy

Sundt Solar Boost Solar Augmentation (Coal) USA Construction TEP 5 Fresnel Tucson Electricity

Power

HF Orion Solar Augmentation China Construction HelioFocus 1 Dish TAIQING Solar Thermal Power Co

Stillwater CSP-Geothermal Plant Augmentation USA Construction ENEL 2 Parabolic Trough EGP

HF StarDust 3 Solar Augmentation Israel Development HelioFocus; Israel Corporation Power 0.5 Dish Israel Electric

Corporation

HF ANDROMEDA Project Solar Augmentation China Development HelioFocus 10 Dish IEC

Yazd ISCC ISCC Iran Development MAPNA Group 17 Parabolic Trough

HF CART wheel Project Solar Augmentation Israel Development HelioFocus 12 Dish Israel Electric

Corporation

Dervish CSP Plant (IRCC) ISCC Turkey Development eSolar; GE; MetCap; 50 Tower MetCap Energy

Investments

Al Abdaliyah ISCC ISCC Kuwait DevelopmentMinistry of Electricity and Water, Partnerships Technical Bureau

60 Parabolic TroughMinistry of Electricity and Water

Duba 1 ISCC ISCC Saudi Arabia Development Saudi Electric Company 50 Parabolic Trough Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Cosumnes (CPP) ISCC ISCC USA Planning Sacramento Municipal Utility

District 10 Tower (TBC) Saudi Electricity Company (SEC)

Mejillones Solar Augmentation (Coal) Chile Planning GDF Suez; Solar Power

Group; 5 Fresnel GDF Suez

El Borma ISCC ISCC Tunisia Announced STEG 5 Tower SITEP; STEG

Enerstar María Elena ISCC ISCC Chile Announced EnerStar 170 Parabolic Trough Enerstar

Waad Al Shamal Power Plant ISCC ISCC Saudi Arabia Announced Saudi Electric Company 50 To be confirmed Saudi Electricity

Company

Ningxia ISCC ISCC China On hold Hanas New Energy Group 92.5 Parabolic Trough Hanas New Energy Group

Table 1: ISCC projects

Source: CSP Today Global Tracker.

of the Solar-Institute Jülich in Germany, believes this preference may be because the technology can act as a stepping stone between the region’s current

generation technologies and solar. “You are able to go down the path of transforming your energy system step-wise,” he says.

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Saudi Arabian ISCCWithin MENA, Saudi Arabia leads ISCC deployment. Dr Hany Al-Ansary, assistant professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the College of Engineering at King Saud University, says: “The Saudi Electricity Company, SEC, is constructing two parabolic trough plants, each of which is 50MW and configured as ISCC.”

The Waad Al Shamal and Duba 1 projects are being financed by the SEC with government funds. This appears to be the preferred funding option for ISCC in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Rayyan Nagadi, director of project and export finance for HSBC Saudi Arabia confirms: “None of the CSP projects in the GCC I am aware of have yet approached the market for financing.”

The Saudi bids were theoretically open to any CSP technology, although in practice it seems the dusty conditions found in the country might limit the application of power towers. Alexandre Allegue, general manager of solar developer Sun and Life expects parabolic trough to win out in the market “due to its reliability.”

Afshin Tafazzoli, business development manager with Abengoa’s subsidiary Abeinsa, says the projects in Saudi Arabia are clearly designed to help SEC investigate the potential of solar power. “These projects are not optimised with solar,” he says. “It’s about testing the plants.”

Potential future sitesTable 2 summarises further open or combined cycle gas plants that may offer potential for solar field integration. This list is not intended to be exhaustive and is based on a visual assessment of data on the Global Energy Observatory database, with site selection based on the following criteria:

�n Sufficient distance from shore to avoid the effects of water vapour and tourist development.�n Apparent lack of nearby construction, arable land, infrastructure or other types of land use. �n Availability of sufficient neighbouring land for a solar field.

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At the 7th Middle East and North Africa Conference & Expo (MENASOL 2015) these opportunities will be discussed by leading CSP companies in the region including Sun&Life, TSK and Abeinsa among others.

Off-takers from across the region will also present their schemes for solar development including ONEE from Morocco, the Kuwait Oil Company, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) and the Electricity Regulatory Commission from Jordan.

We hope that the complimentary guide was useful, providing insight into the opportunities for CSP in MENA.

For further details on the leading solar conference in MENA: www.csptoday.com/iscc

The MENA region is now moving fast for solar! This 2015 you can’t afford missing MENASOL – winner of the Solar Conference of the Year MESIA Award.Get involved today, contact:Brandon Páramo • T: +44 (0) 207422 4302 • E: brandon@csptoday.com

Plant Country Operator Gross capac-ity Website

Hassi Messaoud Ouest Algeria Sonelgaz Production de l'Electricite 492MW www.sonelgaz.dz

Msila Algeria Sonelgaz Production de l'Electricite 300MW www.sonelgaz.dz

Shabab Egypt East Delta Electricity Production Company 1.1GW www.edepco.com.eg

Amman East Jordan NEPCO 380MW www.nepco.com.jo

Risha Jordan NEPCO 150MW www.nepco.com.jo

Laayoune Morocco ONE 150MW www.one.org.ma

Tan-Tan Morocco ONE 114MW www.one.org.ma

Al Kamil Oman Al Kamil Power 276MW www.alkamilpower.com

Arar Saudi Arabia SEC 310MW www.se.com.sa

Bisha Saudi Arabia SEC 364.2MW www.se.com.sa

Jouf Saudi Arabia SEC 175MW www.se.com.sa

Layla Saudi Arabia SEC 102MW www.se.com.sa

Qaisumah Saudi Arabia SEC 103.4MW www.se.com.sa

Qurayat Saudi Arabia SEC 106MW www.se.com.sa

Qaisumah Saudi Arabia SEC 103.4MW www.se.com.sa

Rafha Saudi Arabia SEC 60MW www.se.com.sa

Riyadh PP9 C D Saudi Arabia SEC 1.16GW www.se.com.sa

Tabuk Saudi Arabia SEC 444MW www.se.com.sa

Table 2: MENA gas plants with potential for ISCC development

Source: CSP Today.