Alfa Laval – a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – has received an order from Abengoa to supply Alfa Laval Packinox heat exchangers to a concentrated solar power plant in South Africa. Delivery is scheduled to be finalized in 2014. Due to a confidentiality agreement Alfa Laval is unable to disclose the exact value of the order.
The Alfa Laval Packinox heat exchangers, specifically developed for this application, will be the heart of the thermal storage system where heat from solar power is stored in molten salt, thereby enabling electricity production even on rainy days or at night. The solution will allow the plant to operate for additional hours on stored energy, in this case an additional 3 hours (from 12 to 15 hours) which is a 25 percent efficiency increase compared to normal daytime solar power production.
“Last year we announced an order to the world’s largest solar power plant in the US for the same unique solution”, says Lars Renström, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group. “This order confirms the unmatched energy efficiency of our Alfa Laval Packinox heat exchangers for this innovative application.”
Did you know that … all of Europe’s energy needs could be met by capturing less than 1% of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle Eastern deserts alone?
(Source, the Guardian)