Browsing by Author "Gauche, Paul"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19
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    A concentrating solar power value proposition for South Africa
    (Energy Research Centre, University of Cape Town, 2013) Gauche, Paul; Von Backstrom, Theodore W.; Brent, Alan C.
    Concentrating solar power (CSP) offers the potential for a high degree of localization and an alternative strategy to meet electricity demand for South Africa in a future of uncertain conventional resources. The integrated resource plan (IRP) makes strides to introduce renewables to the electricity generation system by 2030, but we argue that the proposed energy mix is too reliant on resources that are not only unsustainable but also at risk in the short to medium term. Coal and other conventional resources may be more limited than originally anticipated, which if true, requires action to be taken soon. CSP is currently the only sustainable and dispatchable energy technology that could domestically supply a significant portion of South Africa’s electricity needs. A balanced mix of PV, wind and CSP can provide the energy supply needed in South Africa, but steps are required soon to take advantage of the localization potential and excellent sustainable energy resources.
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    A value proposition of CSP for South Africa
    (2012) Gauche, Paul; Von Backstr�m TW; Brent AC
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    Costs of reducing water use of concentrating solar power to sustainable levels: Scenarios for North Africa
    (2011-06-02) Damerau K.; Williges K.; Patt A.G.; Gauche, Paul
    Concentrating solar power (CSP) has the potential to become a leading sustainable energy technology for the European electricity system. In order to reach a substantial share in the energy mix, European investment in CSP appears most profitable in North Africa, where solar potential is significantly higher than in southern Europe. As well as sufficient solar irradiance, however, the majority of today's CSP plants also require a considerable amount of water, primarily for cooling purposes. In this paper we examine water usage associated with CSP in North Africa, and the cost penalties associated with technologies that could reduce those needs. We inspect four representative sites to compare the ecological and economical drawbacks from conventional and alternative cooling systems, depending on the local environment, and including an outlook with climate change to the mid-century. Scaling our results up to a regional level indicates that the use of wet cooling technologies would likely be unsustainable. Dry cooling systems, as well as sourcing of alternative water supplies, would allow for sustainable operation. Their cost penalty would be minor compared to the variance in CSP costs due to different average solar irradiance values. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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    Development of a flat-plate calorimeter for a small scale heliostat field
    (2012) Kretzschmar H; Gauche, Paul; Mouzouris M
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    Direct environmental impacts of solar power in two arid biomes : an initial investigation
    (Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017) Rudman, Justine; Gauche, Paul; Esler, Karen J.
    According to recent national energy plans and policy documents, the number of renewable energy developments is expected to increase in South Africa, thus contributing to the diversification of the country’s energy system. Consequently, numerous solar power developments are being deployed in the sunny arid interior – areas generally represented by the Nama-Karoo and Savanna Biomes. These developments come with a range of novel environmental impacts, providing opportunities for multidimensional exploratory research. Here, a mixed-method approach was used to identify and investigate possible environmental impacts associated with two types of solar power plants: concentrating solar power and photovoltaic. Structured interviews conducted with experts and experienced professionals, together with observations from site visits generated complementary findings. In addition to the risk of cumulative ecological impacts associated with individual solar plant developments, landscape impacts of multiple power plants and the direct impact on avifauna were found to be the most significant environmental impacts. These direct impacts appear to be most significant during the construction stage, which represents an intensive 10% of the total power plant lifespan. This investigation provides an early, broad and informative perspective on the experienced and expected impacts of solar power in South African arid regions as well as insights to possible future research areas.
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    Hybrid pressurized air receiver for the sunspot cycle
    (2012) Kretzschmar H; Gauche, Paul
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    Localisation potential of linear fresnel CSP in South Africa
    (2012) Lubkoll M; Gauche, Paul; Brent AC
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    Modeling dispatchability of CSP in South Africa
    (2012) Gauche, Paul; Pfenninger S; Meyer AJ; Von Backstr�m TW; Brent AC
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    Modeling of the rock bed thermal energy storage system of a combined cycle solar thermal power plant in South Africa
    (SINN UND FORM, C/O AUFBLAU-VERLAG GMBH FRANZOSISCHE STR 32, BERLIN, GERMANY, 10117, 2013) Heller L; Gauche, Paul
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    On prerequisites to large scale rollout of CSP in Southern Africa : models, plants and resources
    (2010) Gauche, Paul; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies
    A research lecture of the department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering. This presentation provides a summary of the objectives and status of a PhD project by the author. The provisional title of the PhD is: “Techno-Economic Prerequisites to Large Scale Rollout of Concentrating Solar Power in Southern Africa”. The project deals with technology readiness and technology asymptotes for Southern Africa to benefit from potentially massive investments in energy over the following 40 years.
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    SAURAN : a new resource for solar radiometric data in Southern Africa
    (Energy Research Centre, 2015) Brooks, Michael J.; Du Clou, Sven; Van Niekerk, Wikus L.; Gauche, Paul; Leonard, Corli; Mouzouris, Michael J.; Meyer, Riaan; Van der Westhuizen, Nic; Van Dyk, Ernest E.; Vorster, Frederik J.
    A new resource for sun strength data in Southern Africa has been established with the commissioning of a regional network of solar monitoring stations. The Southern African Universities Radiometric Network (SAURAN) is an initiative of Stellenbosch University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), and consists of an initial set of ten ground stations equipped with secondary standard thermopile radiometers. SAURAN's aim is to provide a long-term record of sun strength in a region that shows excellent potential for the deployment of solar energy technologies. Instruments measuring direct normal irradiance (DNI), diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI) and global horizontal irradiance (GHI) feed time-averaged data over 1-minute, hourly and daily intervals to a central archive from where they are accessible to the public via a website interface. Meteorological data is also provided by most of the stations. This paper gives a brief background to the SAURAN project and describes the network's operation, coverage and future expansion. Examples of solar energy irradiance plots are also provided to illustrate the information available from the SAURAN database.
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    Sensitivity analysis of a curved heliostat facet profile
    (2012) Landman W; Gauche, Paul
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    Spatial-temporal model to evaluate the system potential of concentrating solar power towers in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Gauche, Paul; Von Backstrom, Theo W.; Brent, Alan C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a relatively unknown power generation technology entering into the growth phase of its technology life-cycle. The value of CSP is relatively well understood from a state of the art point of view, but its value and potential in a power generation network is not as clear. South Africa potentially offers an accelerated market due to constrained electricity capacity and an excellent solar resource. The objective of this dissertation is to quantifiably evaluate CSP in the electricity system of South Africa and thereby aid national policy. The methodology required the development and validation of a model to predict the performance of central receiver CSP plants in an electricity system. The Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) of South Africa legislates the definition of the national electricity system with a twenty year horizon and intended updates every two years. The IRP initiated significant renewable energy adoption, but only 1 GW of CSP is officially allocated until 2030, despite several analysis updates recommending increased capacity for CSP in scenarios based on scarcity of resources for fossil or nuclear technologies. The spatial-temporal CSP model was developed and validated within available means to about 7 % accuracy within a standard deviation of known CSP tower settings. This model permits cascaded allocations of CSP capacity by location, plant configuration and size without being overly prescriptive to technology specification or advancements. The model is, therefore, able to comprehensively evaluate a distributed network of CSP towers within an energy system environment. A deterministic energy system model and a probabilistic economic model were developed to test the behavior of the CSP model in an energy system. The value of CSP towers was studied in various scenarios, including an emulation of the 2010 IRP, the 2013 proposed IRP Update and scenarios commissioned by the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) in South Africa. The WWF scenario resulted in a renewable-centric proposal for 2030 that includes 8 GW of CSP with 12 storage hours on average. This scenario unexpectedly outperforms other scenarios in terms of cost regardless of resource scarcity. The analysis, however, correlates with other recent research, finding that CSP capacity needs to operate only serving the system to avoid unserved power. In this mode, CSP levelized cost of energy (LCOE) increases due to a drop in capacity factor, but the marginal value of electricity (MVOE) attributable to this operating mode is R 0.48 per kWh. MVOE is introduced as a method to inform tariff policy. The model successfully demonstrates the importance of technology, space and time within a constrained electricity system in order to fully evaluate the role of CSP towers. The evaluation itself provides initial quantified evidence that CSP has an important role for South Africa and should be pursued by investing more resources in research, planning and implementation.