Concept and operating experiences with Eurelios 1 MW helioelectric power plant of the European Communities

The paper describes the design and operational results of Eurelios, the 1 MW (electrical) solar power plant of the mirror-field/central-receiver type, a project sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities. Construction of the plant was completed by the end of 1980 and was connected to the grid of the Italian National Electricity Generating Board, ENEL, at Adrano, Sicily (Italy), in April 1981. ENEL is the operator of the plant and its coproprietor, along with the Commission of the European Communities. A European Industrial Consortium, consisting of Ansaldo SpA and Ente Nazionale per l´Energia Elettrica (ENEL), Italy; Cethel (combining Renault, Five-Cail-Babcock, Saint-Gobain Pont-a-Mousson and Heurtey SA), France; Messerschmitt-Boelkow-Blohm (MBB), FRG, was set up for the design and construction of the plant. The operation experience gained proved the feasibility to produce electric energy, in connection with the grid, and to operate the plant by standard procedures like those for the conventional thermoelectric units. If the electrical energy production was rather disappointing, this was mainly due to mediocre quality and quantity of insolation at the site, together with inadequate design of the receiver and the thermal circuit. Because these factors are extraneous to proper engineering, the central receiver technology cannot, as such, be blamed. Solar thermal power generation is feasible today. No major scientific breakthroughs are required, but rather the development and cost reduction of more or less available components, as well as optimisation of the systems linking together those components: receiver, heliostat, prime mover, storage, heat cycle.