China has unveiled the world’s first dual-tower solar thermal power plant, which is located in Gansu Province.
- The plant utilises an innovative design to significantly improve energy efficiency. The plant features two 200-meter tall towers, each surrounded by nearly 30,000 mirrors that form overlapping circles to focus sunlight onto the towers.
- The concentrated sunlight heats water inside the towers, generating steam that drives turbines to produce electricity.
- Unlike conventional thermal power plants, this design incorporates molten salt storage, which acts as a thermal battery. The molten salt retains extra heat collected during the day and releases it at night, allowing the plant to generate power continuously.
- The mirrors used in the plant are made of specialized materials that can achieve a remarkable 94% reflection efficiency.
- The mirrors are programmed to automatically track the sun’s movement, concentrating the rays on the eastern tower in the morning and adjusting westward in the afternoon.
Solar thermal power plants
- In solar thermal power plants, solar radiation is used to generate electricity in what is otherwise a conventional power plant process.
- Mirrors concentrate the sunlight on a radiation collector and heat up a heat-bearing medium, generally thermal oil.
- A turbine transforms this energy into electricity. In dry, hot zones with a high proportion of direct sunlight, solar thermal power plants are an efficient way of transforming solar energy into electricity.
