Morocco''s 800 MW solar hybrid project at Midelt will be the first solar project in the world to include thermal (heat) storage of PV (Photovoltaic) as well as CSP (Concentrated Solar Power).
The state-owned Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen) has opened the third tender of its solar-plus-storage Noor Midelt project.
At that time only one CSP project was operating in Morocco, dating back to a development started in 1999 when a grant of US$ 50 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was committed to Morocco for a 470 MW Integrated Solar Combined Cycle project with 20 MW equivalent solar capacity.
The project will combine a solar PV array with a battery energy storage system. The document said its expected net capacity during off-peak hours will be 200MWac and is not to exceed 230MW, measured at the delivery point.
At that time only one CSP project was operating in Morocco, dating back to a development started in 1999 when a grant of US$ 50 million from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was committed to Morocco for a 470
These folks want to know how Morocco - yes, the same country famous for tagines and Atlas Mountains - became Africa''s unlikely champion in liquid energy storage technology.
The three solar thermal power plants have a total capacity of 510 MWe. All of them are equipped with molten salt storage, which allows them to continue producing electricity in the absence of solar radiation.
In collaboration with Belgium, Morocco launched a project for the production and storage of thermal energy from renewable energy sources within the Noor Ouarzazate solar complex.
The project will combine a solar PV array with a battery energy storage system. The document said its expected net capacity during off-peak hours will be 200MWac and is not to exceed 230MW, measured at the delivery
The Noor Midelt Solar Thermal Plant 1 – Thermal Energy Storage System is a 190,000kW energy storage project located in Midelt, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco. The thermal energy storage project uses molten salt as its storage technology. The project was announced in 2017 and will be commissioned in 2022.
The three solar thermal power plants have a total capacity of 510 MWe. All of them are equipped with molten salt storage, which allows them to continue producing electricity in the absence of solar radiation.
Packed-bed thermal energy storage (TES) systems are considered as the key solution to ensure the dispatchability and enhancement of the cost-effectiveness of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants.
The Noor Midelt Solar Thermal Plant 2 – Thermal Energy Storage System is a 190,000kW energy storage project located in Midelt, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco. The thermal energy storage project uses molten salt as its storage technology.
Morocco’s 800 MW solar hybrid project at Midelt will be the first solar project in the world to include thermal (heat) storage of PV (Photovoltaic) as well as CSP (Concentrated Solar Power). Midelt’s first-of-a-kind hybrid solar and shared storage project will deliver dispatchable solar at 7 cents per kWh.
But at Midelt the solar energy from not just the CSP plant, but also from the PV plant will be, for the first time, stored in the thermal energy storage of the CSP portion of the project. CSP projects built today routinely include 10 or more hours of thermal energy storage in tanks of low cost molten salts.
The Moroccan project marks the first time that the PV in a hybrid solar project with CSP will also charge the thermal energy storage incorporated in the CSP power block.
All of them are equipped with molten salt storage, which allows them to continue producing electricity in the absence of solar radiation. In fact, the highest energy demand in Morocco occurs at nightfall, so the integration of the facilities into the Moroccan electricity system will be the most efficient.
This idea of colocating PV and CSP and sharing the CSP thermal storage is one that Schmitz believes will be widely applicable as energy grids become more saturated with renewables, not just Morocco’s, and as therefor more regulators move from lowest cost to “best fit” procurement.
The NOORo III central tower solar thermal power plant with heliostats and salt receiver has a gross production capacity of 150 MW and a storage system with 7.5 hours of production. A key element of the plant is our high-power solar receiver, with more than 600 MW, located on the 250-meter-high tower.
