Optimal coupling of waste and concentrated solar for the constant production of electricity over a year

In this article, a biogas-based Brayton cycle is integrated with a concentrated solar power facility. The gas turbine hot flue gas and the molten salts are used to generate steam for the regenerative Rankine cycle. The process model is solved as a nonlinear optimization problem within a multiperiod scheme to decide on the contribution of the energy resources and the operating conditions of the facility to meet a certain demand of power over a year mitigating the absence of solar availability. The steam turbine is responsible for power production while the gas turbine works mainly as a combustion chamber. In the South of Spain, an excess of biogas is available during summer yielding a production cost of electricity of 0.17 Euro/kWh with an investment of 380MEuro for a production facility of 25MW. This plant is not yet economic.