The world's largest concentrated solar power plant supported by Siemens Robicon Drives

The world's largest concentrated solar power plant supported by Siemens Robicon Drives

Kathie Zipp | July 17, 2012

FacebookTwitterLinkedInPinterestShare

Upon completion, the 280 MW Solana plant in Arizona will become the world's largest concentrating solar (CSP) plant. Abengoa will develop a solar project near Gila Bend.

The plant will use parabolic trough technology and use molten salt for heat storage. Solana means "a sunny place" in Spanish, and a solar tracker with a high-precision parabolic mirror will also be used. The parabolic mirror follows the path of the sun and gathers its energy to heat the fluid to more than 700 degrees Fahrenheit. And use this heat to turn the steam turbine. The solar power plant will include a thermal energy storage system that can generate electricity on demand even after the sun goes down.

Siemens Industries will provide 18 Robicon Perfect Harmony medium voltage drives for the project, including ten 4,000 hp GenIIIe drives, two 2,000 hp GenIIIe drives and six 800 hp GenIV drives.

"Siemens Drive Technologies has worked with customers like Abengoa to provide some of the most integrated drive system components in the United States. Our motors, variable frequency drives, and gearboxes can save tens of millions of dollars in energy each year and bring them in the following ways Considerable return on investment: help increase net operating income. We are proud of Abengoa's choice of Siemens as a partner of the Solana project and look forward to the success of the solar power plant." said Doug Keith, President of Siemens Industries Ltd. Drive Technology Department.

Siemens Robicon Perfect Harmony Drives, manufactured in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, are very suitable for the power generation industry because they can withstand voltage dips, have a small footprint, and do not require output transformers, harmonic line filters or power factor compensation.

These variable frequency drives (VFD) are unique in that each variable frequency drive uses a series of low voltage batteries linked together, and is precisely scaled for various voltages and output powers. Battery bypass can ensure that the failed battery is automatically bypassed in less than 500 milliseconds, and there is no need to shut down the entire drive. Instead, the process tolerance protection system (ProToPS) provides a layered warning system. This control strategy allows time to assess the situation and respond appropriately. The concept also makes it easy to access drive components for regular maintenance.

Abengoa signed a 30-year agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS), the largest power company in Arizona, to build and operate the plant. Abengoa Solar recently announced that the Department of Energy has provided a conditional commitment to provide a loan guarantee of US$1.45 billion to support the construction and start-up of Solana. This is Abengoa's first domestic CSP project in the United States, ranking 14th globally.

Compared with natural gas-fired power plants, Solana can provide clean energy to 70,000 homes about 70 miles southwest of Phoenix and eliminate about 475,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

Siemens Industry

www.usa.siemens.com/industry

https://www.robiconperfectharmony.com/