Central receiver plant Noor Ouarzazate III

Central receiver plant Noor Ouarzazate III, Morocco.

The central receiver plant Noor Ouarzazate III with heliostats and salt receiver technology, has a gross production capacity of 150 MW and a storage capacity of 7.5 hours of production. One of the plant’s core elements is SENER’s high-power solar receiver, with more than 600 MW of heat, located in the 250-meter-high tower. It is the same configuration as that successfully applied by SENER at Gemasolar, in Seville (Spain). Noor Ouarzazate III, which is seven times larger, is the natural evolution from this pioneering facility and will include advances such as HE54 heliostats, a larger heliostat, designed and manufactured by SENER.

In addition to Noor Ouarzazate III, SENER is a participant in the other two thermosolar phases of the project, Noor Ouarzazate I and Noor Ouarzazate II, in the same turnkey construction consortium. The three thermosolar plants are to provide a total of 510 MWe of power. All of them equipped with thermal storage systems, enabling them to continue to produce electricity in the absence of solar radiation. As a matter of fact, the time with the greatest demand for power in Morocco is nightfall, so the integration of these facilities in the Moroccan electricity system will be one of optimal efficiency. Altogether, they will avert annual emissions of 470,000 metric tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere.

• 150 MWe of power and 7.5 hours of thermal storage
• Enough solar power to meet the demands of 120,000 homes per year
• Noor Ouarzazate III will avert annual emissions of 130,000 metric tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere

• Project data:
• Technology: Central tower.
• Tower height: 250 m.
• Total reflective area: 1,300,000 m².
• Surface area of the solar field: 550 Ha.
• Turbine power capacity: 150 Mwe.
• Thermal storage capacity (equivalent hours of turbine operation): 7.5 h.
• Number of heliostats: 7,400.
• Receiver thermal power: 660 MWt.
• Heat transfer fluid: Molten nitrate salts (300ºC – 565ºC).
• Contract type: EPC. 

• how it Works
• Heliostats
  Solar light is reflected by the heliostats towards the receiver, located on top of the tower.
• Tank 1
  Molten salts, at 300ºC, are pumped from the cold molten salt tank to the receiver.
• Tower
  Inside the receiver, molten salts are heated up to 565ºC before being stored in the hot molten salt tank.
• Tank 2
  The hot molten salt tank keeps the energy accumulated in form of molten salts at very high temperature.
• Steam generator
  The hot molten salts are delivered to the steam generation system, where they transfer their heat to the water, reducing their temperature.
• Turbine
  The heat transferred transforms the water into high pressure steam to move the turbine.
• Air cooled condenser
  The steam that leaves the turbine is condensed becoming water that is again incorporated into the cycle. Using an air cooled condenser, reduces the water consumption of the plant in more than 80%.
• Electric Generator
  The electricity is delivered to a transformer to be injected into the distribution grid.