Torresol Energy, a leader in the concentrated solar power (CSP) sector, has selected Honeywell’s UniSim Operator Training Simulator (OTS) and business support planning tools to help optimise the performance of three of its thermo solar power plants in Spain.
CSP systems represent a rapidly growing segment of solar energy production. The systems use mirrors to concentrate sunlight to one point, with the resulting heat harnessed to drive turbines and produce electrical power. Spain is a world leader in the development of thermo solar power, with companies such as Torresol Energy at the forefront of innovation.
Torresol Energy will also use Honeywell’s UniSim OTS, to train the plants operators and engineers how to respond to a wide range of potential plant incidents, enabling them to react more quickly and diffuse issues before they occur. With UniSim Operations, Torresol will be able to identify, document and track changes to operational procedures and capture operator experience and best-practices as part of a sustainable operator competency plan.
Torresol Energy will use Honeywell’s business support planning tools to create a model for operational performance of thermo solar power plants focussed around safe, reliable and efficient plant operation. The technology will be applied to three key projects sites:
* The innovative 19.9 MW Gemasolar plant, located near Seville, which is the first commercial plant in the world to use molten salt thermal storage in a central tower configuration with a heliostat field that started commercial operation in May 2011.
* Plants one and two of the 2x50 MW Valle facility – both of which use parabolic trough collector technology to convert light into energy – located in San José del Valle, near Cadiz that started commercial operation in January 2012.
Image: Gemasolar Plant, propriety of Torresol Energy © Torresol Energy
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