Techno economic study of solar thermal power plants for centralized electricity generation in Algeria

In Algeria, the electricity demand is rapidly increasing. At the same time, Algeria is very rich in solar energy resources and possesses large wasteland areas in the Sahara that represent 80% of the total area. The use of the conventional energy sources is very costs and the extension of electric networks finds enormous problems. These rural needs represent a potential market for renewable energy technologies. Currently, Algeria envisages the substitution of the fossil energies by the renewable energy, especially solar energy. In this context, the government of Algeria has committed itself to develop solar energy (photovoltaic, concentrating solar power) as its largest renewable energy source; to cover 20% of the national electricity needs by 2030 with renewable energy (solar and wind energy). All these indicators make Algeria an ideal country for the implementation of the Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Plant technologies (CSTPP). In this purpose, this article present a techno economic assessment of 100 MW of three types of CSTPP for electricity generation located in one typical site of the Saharan environment of Algeria (Tamanrasset). The NREL's SAM software (Solar Advisor Model) is used to evaluate the monthly energy production, annual energy output, Levelized cost of energy (LCOE) and the Net Present Value (NPV) for this study.