PS10 solar power tower plant
Central termosolar de torre PS10
- Date
- 2007 · confidence high
- Place
- Sanlúcar la Mayor, Seville, Andalusia, Spain
- Credited to
- Abengoa Solar
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
The world's first commercial solar power tower plant: 624 heliostats concentrate sunlight on a receiver at the top of a tower more than 100 m high, producing steam for an 11 MW turbine. It entered service in 2007 and opened the way to commercial tower plants.
Earlier there were demonstration tower prototypes (Solar One and Solar Two at Barstow, USA, 1982-1999); PS10 is the first for commercial use. Towers of differing size and storage were built later in other countries.
What it led to
- the twin PS20 plant (20 MW) in 2009
- tower plants with molten salt such as Gemasolar
- the Spanish concentrated solar power industry