Hybrid Solar Thermal Power Plant Potential in Australia

With the world increasingly shifting towards clean energy, Australia has the potential to be a major player in the renewable energy industry, specially in the solar energy sector. The use of solar thermal energy in Australia has a lot of promise. One promising concept with solar thermal energy that has gained attention in recent years is hybrid solar thermal power plants. A hybrid solar thermal power plant doesn't suffer inefficiencies from when there is insufficient sunlight to generate steam. This work presents a comprehensive examination of solar thermal technology's applications in the energy industry. It offers insights into the current state of Australia's energy sector, including its unique climatic attributes, and explores the possibilities of integrating hybrid solar technologies within the country. The study also delves into the analysis of an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) plant model utilizing parabolic trough collectors and evaluates the efficiency of this hybrid solar thermal power plant. To simulate the combined utilization of a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant and a solar steam generator for power generation THERMOFLEX software was utilized.