Oberhausen, Germany MAN Diesel & Turbo has bagged an order for a 50 MW machine set for a Spanish solar facility with a steam turbine designed for solar thermal power, in tune with the German manufacturer’s strategy of targeting regenerative applications.
“This order is a confirmation of our company strategy to further expand our position on the growing market for regenerative applications,” said Dr. Hans-O. Jeske, a member of the executive board and CTO of MAN Diesel & Turbo.
The two-casing reheat machine set will be designed and manufactured at MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Oberhausen site. The company’s claims the order reflects its steam turbine trains’ short delivery period, high thermal efficiency and high overall efficiency.
The machine train’s modular system design also fits the need in CSP (concentrated solar power) for short start-up times as well as the frequent load changes due to meteorological changes, says the manufacturer.
The contract partner is a joint venture of the Spanish companies Iso, Espelsa, Abantia and Seridom. The ‘Termosolar Guzmán’ parabolic trough power plant, under construction in the Andalusian Palma del Rio, near the city of Cordoba is planned to start generation of electricity in spring 2012.
MAN Diesel & Turbo has already developed and supplied the key turbine technology for several solar projects worldwide including a steam turbine with an electrical power output of 125 MW for a CSP plant in Abu Dhabi, currently the world’s largest.
In contrast to photovoltaics, trough-shaped mirrors bundle the sunrays in solar thermal energy production. These rays are directed to a receiver pipe in the focal line of the collector, where thermal oil is heated to several hundred degrees Celsius. Steam is produced via a heat exchanger and transferred to a steam turbine that generates electricity via a generator. Using the steam produced from solar heat, these turbines generate electricity without consuming resources or producing emissions.
