The Andasol 3 solar electric power generation plant in Andalucia in southern Spain has opened. The plant’s capacity is 50 MW and uses parabolic trough mirrors that follow the sun during the day. The mirrors heat a molten mixture of potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate, which is then either stored or used directly to produce steam for a standard thermal electric power generation cycle. The plant can store enough molten salt to power the generator for up to 8 hours after sunset or when it rains. This part of Andalucia gets something over 300 days of sun every year. There is a video about the project on the Desertec Channel.
The technology is basically the same as that used for the 354 MW SEGS project in California’s Mojave desert built between 1984 and 1990.
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