Resumen:
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Consulta en la Biblioteca ETSI Industriales (Riunet)
[EN] This study aims to estimate the technical and economic potential of solar-thermal
power in Mexico. For its purpose, a novel approach is applied in the technical
assessment considering the influence of the direct ...[+]
[EN] This study aims to estimate the technical and economic potential of solar-thermal
power in Mexico. For its purpose, a novel approach is applied in the technical
assessment considering the influence of the direct normal irradiance on the capacity
factor and the power density of a parabolic trough power plant equipped with 6 hours
of storage and a solar multiple of 2. The results of the assessment reveal that three out
of every four municipalities in the country are suitable for the deployment of a solarthermal
power plant considering technical restrictions. The areas with highest technical
potential for the technology are located in the north of the country. The total technical
potential in Mexico is estimated in 47,561 GW and 158,682 TWh/year.
For the economic potential assessment, the levelized cost of energy is estimated
proportional to that of a reference plant and the difference in direct normal irradiance
between the location of the reference and the location studied. With this new simple
approach, the multiple factors that influence the cost of a solar-thermal power plant,
which are usually local dependent and hard to evaluate, are overlooked, focusing only
on one of the factors, the annual electricity generation, which highly depends on the
direct normal irradiance value. The results of the economic potential reveal areas
accounting for 3.8% of the country’s total extension where the LCOE generated would
be under 0.15 US$/kWh, all located in the north of the country and within 36
municipalities. In total, up to 9,516 plants could be installed in Mexico in the more
favorable areas, resulting in a total capacity of 2,379 GW which could generate around
to 9,215 TWh of electricity per year. Considering only the potential of the municipality
where the lowest mean LCOE was found, Santa Cruz (0.1454 $US/kWh), up to 115
plants like the reference could be deployed resulting in an increased capacity of 28,750
MW which could generate up to 113 TWh per year with an estimated cost of $16,406
million. The potential values of power and energy only in Santa Cruz equal to almost
45% of the effective generation capacity of the country at the end of 2012 (64,000 MW)
and about 41% of the electricity produced the same year (276 TWh), revealing the large
potential of solar-thermal power in Mexico.
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