Integration of parabolic trough collectors with natural gas Combined Cycle power plants in United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Many countries have recently installed Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plants like in United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), which has an arid subtropical climate with very hot summers and warm winters. Plants installed in such location experience great loss since the gas turbine power output decreases with rising ambient temperature. Additionally, CCGTs are installed with supplementary firing which causes the overall power output to increase however the thermal efficiency decreases. This implies enormous potential for solar hybridization with such combined cycle plants. The inefficient supplemental firing can be eliminated improving the overall plant efficiency and reducing the Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Integration of solar power with Natural Gas Combined Cycle (NGCC) technology may be an intermediate step on the way to the optimum usage of renewable energy. Furthermore, an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) plant is a promising alternative to conventional solar thermal power plants and NGCC plants. This paper compares the efficiency of different power plant configurations in U.A.E using EBSILON Professional. Results have shown that ISCC plants have greater overall efficiency when compared to other plant configurations.