The Partanna Project: A first of a kind plant based on molten salts in LFR collectors

Molten Salts are nowadays the preferred choice to store thermal energy in CSP plants, either using MS Power Towers and “direct” storage or using parabolic troughs with MS “indirect” storage, employing thermal oil as Heat Transfer Fluid in the solar field. The use of Molten Salts as Heat Transfer Fluid with “direct” storage in linear parabolic troughs has been proposed and studied since 2000. Starting in 2001, ENEA fully developed such concept in its “Solar Thermodynamic” project. Such effort led to the construction of full size 100 m. test plant in 2003 at the ENEA Test Field, and to a 5 MW demonstrative unit by the Italian Utility ENEL (Archimede) commissioned in 2010. As the Linear Fresnel technology became more mature, also such type of solar collector begun to be studied to adopt molten salts as HTF. The Italian company Sol.In.Par, specialized in renewable energy plants, recently decided to adopt the Fresnel technology with Molten Salts both as Heat Transfer Fluid and storage Medium for the development of a new power plant in Partanna (Sicily), that comprises a 5.6 MWe Photovoltaic section and a 4.26 MWe CSP section. Since no plants of this type are actually in operation, such plant will be therefore a First Of a Kind of such concept. The paper describes the design and operative main data, presently in the construction phase and expected to be commissioned not later than spring 2020.