Steel will play an important role in the development of all renewable energy technologies, and especially in the case of solar power. Industeel is already taking part in this trend.
During the last decade, Industeel has supplied specialised steel for the most important concentrated solar power (CSP) plants in the world:
- 2015 : Noor III (Morocco)
- 2018 : Crescent dunes (USA, Gemasolar (Spain), LuNeng Haixi (China)
- 2019 : DEWA (UAE)
Concentrated solar plants (CSP) consist of a heliostatic field, a central receiver tower and molten salt energy storage. The heliostats set up around the tower reflect and concentrate solar energy onto the molten salt receiver located at the top of the tower. In the receiver, solar energy is transferred to the molten salts circulating inside, which reach a temperature of around 565 ºC. By means of a steam generation system, the molten salts produce overheated steam, that runs a turbine/alternator group to generate electrical energy which then is fed into the power grid. The solar heat transferred to the salt can be stored in tanks, and re-used during the night or for demand peaks in the morning and evening in the absence of solar radiation. Dimensions of the tanks depends on the megawatt hours of storage of the plant, larger tanks allow up to 130 MW of energy storage for 24h of service
The holt molten salt requires the use of our special UR™347H stainless steel plates – a niobium-stabilised austenitic steel produced at our Charleroi and Le Creusot plants – for the production of heat exchangers, steam generators, high temperature pipes and molten salt storage tanks. Industeel offers also prefabrication at our site in Dunkerque (cutting, forming and beveling) to allow on-site delivery on formed and bevelled shell course plates.
At present, we have been awarded by SEPCO III for the tank of the South African Central Solar Plant, Redstone Project :
- 100 MW Tower with 12 h of molten salt storage
- will supply 200,000 households with clean power and save nearly 440,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year upon completion
- 1014 t of UR347H (5 to 90 mm) prefabricated plates will be supplied by Charleroi and Dunkerque mills
We are proud of being part of this sustainable project and remain engaged to further develop renewable energies.
