Italy builds the world's first molten salt concentrating solar power plant

The power station is called "Archimede", which uses molten salt to transfer and store energy, and successfully integrated with a natural gas plant. The "Archimedes" power station is located in Sicily, Italy, with an installed capacity of 5 megawatts and a cost of up to 60 million euros. It is jointly constructed by the Italian power company and the Italian new technology energy and environment committee. (1 euro is about 8.81 yuan)

At present, there are several concentrating solar power stations in the world, most of which are located in the United States and Spain. These power stations mirrored the solar energy into the pipeline and then pressurized the synthetic oil in the pipeline to a temperature of approximately 390 degrees Celsius. The synthetic oil then heats the water through a heat exchanger and drives the turbine cycle machine.

Conventional concentrating solar power stations can only operate during direct sunlight in the daytime. In recent years, international efforts have been made to solve this problem by introducing molten salt for thermal storage. Many of the new concentrating solar power stations currently under construction use molten salt storage technology to extend daily operating hours. The Italian "Archimedes" power station uses not only molten salt for energy storage but also for collecting sunlight.

The British "Guardian" said that molten salt technology has obvious advantages. Compared to the operating temperature of 390 degrees for synthetic oils, molten salt can work normally at a high temperature of 550 degrees, which greatly improves the efficiency of the power station and the energy output. Because of the high temperature characteristics of molten salt, it can be used for energy storage, so the power station can continue to operate for several days even in the absence of sunshine during the rainy season.

In addition, since the new concentrating solar power station does not require the installation of a salt-heat-synthetic oil exchanger, the process design is relatively simple, and the safety and environmental risks associated with the use of synthetic oils can also be eliminated. Due to the higher temperature of the molten salt, the steam turbines of the power plant can operate at standard temperatures and pressures, which means that conventional power plants can be combined or replaced with new concentrating solar power plants, and the cost is controllable.

However, due to some political and technical reasons, molten salt has not been applied. As early as 2001, Italian physicist and Nobel Laureate Professor Carlo Rubbia initiated research on molten salt technology. However, due to disagreements with the government, for example, Biya had to leave the Italian Committee for New Technology Energy and Environment to go to Spain. Fortunately, the "Archimedes" plan was not abandoned and the Environment Committee continued to support the project until it was completed.

Technically, because the salt condenses into solids at 220 degrees, this is a problem with the cyclic operation of the power plant. Relevant agencies have invested considerable effort to improve the heat absorption and specular reflection efficiency of the pipeline to maximize the energy conversion rate.

The Italian concentrating solar power station association ANEST said that Italy will have 3,000 to 5,000 megawatts of concentrating power stations by 2020 and create a lot of job opportunities. Southern Mediterranean and Middle East regions may continue to build such power stations.