Solar assisted Ultra Supercritical steam power plants with Carbon Capture and Storage

This chapter focuses on the evaluation of the potential benefits arising from the integration of concentrating solar systems into coal-based ultra-supercritical (USC) power plants with post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC). In order to offset the efficiency penalty introduced by CO2 removal, the USC-PCC plant was integrated with a concentrating solar field with direct steam generation based on parabolic trough and linear Fresnel collectors. The performance of the solar-assisted USC-PCC power plant was evaluated by means of specifically developed simulation models by using data sets for a typical meteorological year for the sites of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) and the North Western Australia Coast. A preliminary cost analysis was also carried out.