Launch of the European project LEIA: Research for future solar tower power plants

Solar thermal tower power plants still have a smaller share of the global CSP market (CSP = Concentrated Solar Power) than parabolic trough power plants. The two types of power plants differ primarily in the arrangement, shape and function of their mirrors and the solar radiation receiver. The radiation receiver of a tower power plant, which is centrally positioned at the top of the solar tower, can generate higher temperatures than the decentrally positioned receiver tubes of a parabolic trough power plant. And higher temperatures enable higher cost efficiencies. For this reason, the new solar thermal power plants currently under construction and planned are predominantly tower power plants. Research and industry are very interested in developing technologies that can reduce the costs of tower power plants even further.

As part of LEIA, DLR is developing measurement methods for various power plant parameters, including the flux density on the surface of the radiation receiver, its efficiency and temperature distribution, as well as the spatially resolved soiling of the solar field. The researchers will also use test installations and equipment at CIEMAT's Plataforma Solar de Almería. Finally, the new methods will be tested in a real environment at the Chilean power plant Cerro Dominador.

LEIA is an international collaborative project led by the Spanish research center CIEMAT, with the German partners DLR and CSP Services, the associated partner Siemens Energy, the Spanish CENER Foundation and the Spanish company Tewer Engineering. The Spanish company ACCIONA has the role of technical coordinator.