Parabolic trough plants AndaSol 1 & 2

AndaSol 1 & 2 solar power plants 50 MWe in Guadix (Granada), Spain.

The AndaSol 1 and AndaSol 2 power plants, located in Guadix (Granada), make up a solar energy facility which uses SENERtrough® parabolic troughs, designed, developed and patented by SENER and which feed two steam cycles with an electrical capacity of 50 MW. For this project, SENER has carried out the basic engineering, the detailed engineering and has participated in the Lump Sum Turn Key (EPC) contract.

The technology is based on SENERtrough®, a parabolic collector which concentrates the solar radiation on the focal line of the dish, where there is a tube through which a thermal fluid circulates that absorbs the radiation and is heated up.

AndaSol 1 & 2 are the first solar power plants to incorporate a thermal storage system using molten salts. Through this system of molten salt storage, the plant’s power capacity and the energy demand can be assured. This system can operate 24 hours a day and improves the production costs, as well as the costs related to the maintenance and operational staff's productivity.

In order to study the project's feasibility, SENER's SENSOL software was used, which integrates the project's technical and economic studies into a single program. This is a piece of software developed by SENER specifically for these types of solar applications, and its effectiveness has already been demonstrated in more than 25 solar power plants throughout the world.

• Project data:
• Technology: SENERtrough® parabolic trough collectors.
• Total mirror area: 2 × 510.000 m²
• Number of SCAs/loops: 2 × 624/156.
• Land surface area: 396 ha.
• Solar field nominal capacity: 2 × 262 MWt
• Storage capacity: 2 × 1,010 MWht (7h)
• Turbine nominal capacity: 2 × 50 MWe.
• Efficiency of the cycle: 38%
• Annual direct normal irradiance: 2,127 KWh/m²