Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas will assess the viability of building two 50-MW CSP. Both projects would be fall within the favourable regulatory framework for renewable energy included in India’s National Solar Mission approved by the Indian government, which outlines plans for 20 GW of solar generation capacity to be installed by 2020, resulting in the creation of 100 000 new jobs. The feed-in tariff model approved by the Indian government as part of this plan has created new opportunities in the country for the solar industry.
Feasibility studies conducted by Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas will include evaluating the physical characteristics of the site and infrastructures required for this type of projects in accordance with the environment information, geographical, geological studies and all applicable existing regulations. Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas will also verify compliance with regulations and environmental conditions for both projects.
The company will complete the preliminary engineering of the main systems of both CSP plants, which it announces with be fitted with a thermal storage system. An estimate of construction and operation costs will be included, as the base for the financial feasibility of both projects.
Currently, Aries Ingeniería y Sistemas is constructing three CSP plants in Spain with a total investment of over €900 million. The company initiated the design, engineering and development of ASTE 1A, ASTE 1B, and ASTEXOL-2 two years ago, securing the land, performing the feasibility analysis and the permitting. Afterwards EISER Global Infrastructure Fund joined the project as partner.
When fully developed, each CSP plant will have more than 209,000 parabolic mirrors and more than 22,000 absorber receivers. The absorber receivers, sitting in the focal line of the parabolic troughs, receive the concentrated solar energy in such way that it is efficiently transferred to a heat transfer fluid. The plant process uses that fluid to generate superheated steam which is then sent to a steam turbine generator, producing electricity.
According to Aries, it is also “putting its efforts into the research and evaluation of local manufacturers to bring down the cost of a CSP plant in India”.
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