A 140 MW Solar Thermal Plant in Jordan

• Main Authors: Wael Al-Kouz, Ahmad Almuhtady, Nidal Abu-Libdeh, Jamal Nayfeh, Alberto Boretti
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-06-01
• Series: Processes
• Subjects: solar energy; concentrated solar power; energy storage; molten salt; Jordan
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9717/8/6/668

This paper aims to compute the performances of a smaller version of Solana power plant, with half the solar field, and 1 of 2 turbines in the power cycle, that can be built in Amman or Ma’an in Jordan. The climate conditions for both Amman and Ma’an are discussed thoroughly in the paper. Furthermore, a preliminary validation exercise performed by using measured monthly average values of electricity production from existing plants, a system advisor model (SAM) is used to predict the performances of the proposed Solana-like plants in Ma’an and Amman. The validation shows a good agreement with the measured data for different existing power plants. The simulation results including the monthly capacity factors suggest the annual operation in Ma’an maybe even better than the operation in Gila Bend, for an annual average capacity factor of about 41% for Ma’an vs. a capacity factor of about 39% for Gila Bend. This is mainly due to the best combination of direct normal irradiance (DNI) and the dry bulb temperature across the year in Ma’an versus Gila Bend.