India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has announced plans to add a concentrated solar thermal field to its Dadri coal-fired power plant in Uttar Pradesh state.
NTPC has awarded Indian firm Thermax and Germany’s Frenell the contract to execute the project, which will be Asia’s first integrated solar thermal power plant.
The solar field will use Frenell’s proprietary concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, which is based on flat mirror Fresnel collector principle. On a surface of 33 000 m2, the solar field will feed annually 14 GWh of solar thermal energy into the water-steam cycle of a 210 MW unit of the Dadri power station.
Thermax will act as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, and will be responsible for the design, engineering, procurement and supply of the entire solar thermal plant and balance-of-plant equipment as well as for the integration of the solar field into the coal fired power station.
Frenell will deliver its CSP technology as subcontractor and will execute the turnkey manufacturing and construction of the solar field.
“This project is of high strategic importance for India as it introduces a new option for power generating companies to improve the efficiency of their coal fired power stations. This solution will also contribute to the national target of at least three per cent solar share of total power generation by 2022,” said M.S. Unnikrishnan, CEO of Thermax. “Compared to green field CSP plants, this is a cost efficient application as the existing thermal power station infrastructure can be used.
“The total market potential of this solution in India is estimated to be 1700 MW and Thermax is prepared to continue the lead in offering such integrated solutions.”
