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About
Kathu Solar Park
‘Kathu Solar Park is a 100 MW greenfield Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project with parabolic trough technology and 4.5 hours of thermal energy storage capacity.’
100MW Kathu Solar Park (KSP) with parabolic trough and molten salt storage technology is located in the town of Kathu, 600 km South-West of South Africa’s national capital, Pretoria.
The shareholders consist of Engie; the Government Employees Pension Fund (PIC); SIOC Community Development Trust; Investec Bank Limited; Lereko Metier; and the Kathu LCT (RF) Pty Ltd. The consortium was awarded the status of preferred bidder on 15 December 2014, as part of bid window 3.5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) – a program led by the government’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).
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Project Partners
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Technology Details
The parabolic trough technology operates by tracking the sun with parabolic reflectors and focusing the sun’s rays into an absorber pipe. The absorber pipe, which is seated above the mirror along the focal line, contains a heat absorbent medium that absorbs the energy. The heat absorbent material carries energy to water in a boiler heat exchanger and the heat is used to produce steam which drives a turbine. The project also has a molten storage system which allows for 4.5 hours of thermal energy storage which helps reduce the effects of irregular sunlight and allows the opportunity to produce electricity even after the sun goes down. A parabolic trough plant consists of a significant number of solar collector assemblies which are made up of the following four constituent parts: (i) parabolic reflector (i.e., a curved mirror); (ii) a receiver tube; (iii) a support structure; and (iv) a tracking system.