Spanish concentrating solar power plant Gemasolar has been awarded the DESERTEC Award 2014. The plant received the award because of its thermal heat storage capacity which, at 15 hours, is sufficient to operate the power station around the clock during any season of the year, according to a statement on the DESERTEC website. DESERTEC annually awards the DESERTEC Award to projects that are not only future-orientated and cutting-edge, but which can also be replicated in other locations around the world.
Although the Gemasolar plant has a relatively small capacity of 20 MW, it has been successfully operating since March 2011, during which time it has demonstrated that the concept works and that power plants of this type are able to cover base load. DESERTEC said in the statement that Gemasolar is a pioneering project, and that larger solar power stations with higher capacities are likely to use the same concept in the future.
According to the statement, by integrating sufficient storage capacity, a solar thermal power plant has the potential to replace conventional power stations, as it can deliver electricity on demand day and night, thereby compensating for the variability of the solar resource, making this energy source an ideal complement to the mix of renewable energies in any grid.
Also nominated for the DESERTEC Award 2014 was Andasol, Europe’s first parabolic trough thermal power plant, which is located in Guadix, Spain. Other nominees were Puerto Errado2, a linear Fresnel-based plant, also in Spain and the SHAMS 1 CSP plant in Abu Dhabi.
The vision of the DESERTEC Foundation is to supply as many people and businesses as possible with renewable, clean energy from the world’s deserts. To accelerate the development of solar-thermal power plants with a large-scale renewable energy capacity, the Foundation coordinates the activities of a worldwide network of volunteers, universities and businesses and promotes the DESERTEC-concept through dialogue and education.