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Industrial energy accounts for a large percentage of global consumption and, thus, it is a target for decarbonization by renewable and in particular solar energy adoption. Low uncertainty simulation tools can reduce the financial risk of solar projects, fostering the transition to a sustainable energy system. Several simulation tools are readily available to developers; differences exist in the format of input data and complexity of physical and numerical models. These tools can provide a variety of results from technical to financial and sensitivity analysis, often producing significant differences in yield assessment and uncertainty levels. IEA SHC Task 64/SolarPACES Task IV— Subtask C aims to address the lack of standard simulation tools for Solar Heating of Industrial Processes (SHIP) plants. This article describes the collaborative work developed by the researchers participating in the task. The identification and classification of several currently available simulation tools are performed on the basis of their capabilities and simulation approaches. A case study of solar heat supply to a copper mining operation is defined, allowing a comparison of the results produced by equivalent simulation tools. The proposed methodology identifies the main sources of differences among the simulation tools, the assessment of the deviation considering a series of statistical metrics for different time scales, and identifies their limitations and bias. The effects of physical characteristics of SHIP plants and different simulation approaches are discussed and quantified. The obtained results allow us to develop a basic guideline for a standardized yield assessment procedure with known uncertainties. Creating this common framework could partially reduce the risk perceived by the finance industry regarding SHIP systems. ANID/REDES/190164, ANID/FONDAP 15110019 “Centro de Investigación en Energía Solar”— SERC-Chile y CORFO/13CEI2-21803. ANID PFCHA/DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2017 ANID PFCHA/Doctorado Nacional 2021-21210053

Copper mining is the largest industry and energy consumer in Chile, utilizing heat from imported fossil fuels of which Chile is not a producer. The goals for decarbonization present opportunities to analyze how the Chilean industry can become sustainable with significant shares of renewable energy including solar heat. The present study analyzes the integration of solar heating to the copper refining process in order to gain insights on the technical, economical, and emissions performance of solar heating systems for the largest copper mining operations in Chile. The solar technologies considered in the analysis are flat plate, evacuated tube, and parabolic trough collectors. The results are validated by comparing with publicly available data from existing solar heating plants in copper mining facilities showing that solar plants are able to supply partially the thermal energy demand, although at different costs in terms of capital and operation and maintenance requirements. The economic analysis indicates that with current fossil fuel prices, solar heating technologies are a valid alternative for cost and emissions reduction in copper mining. Flat plate collectors show the lowest cost for solar heat when compared to evacuated tube and parabolic trough systems considering identical sets of technical and financial parameters. The parametric and sensitivity analysis indicate that the conditions under which solar heating is competitive with traditional fossil-fired heaters. which might still be required as backup systems in order to provide heat in a 24/7 regime, and in all the cases analyzed, a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions can be achieved.

Chile presents a combination of favorable climatic conditions which result in the highest levels of solar irradiation in the world. In this paper, the performance of a hybrid CSP + PV plant at utility-scale integrated with a large-scale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) located in northern Chile was studied. The model considered a solar power tower integrated with a two-tank molten salt direct TES and a fixed-angle PV plant coupled to a BESS to deliver a baseload of 100 MWe. A parametric analysis was carried out in terms of the PV size, solar multiple, TES hours capacity, and BESS size. The hybrid plant performance was studied in terms of the LCOE and the capacity factor. The minimum LCOE configurations were identified and a sensibility analysis was carried out to evaluate the effect of a cost reduction of the BESS in the hybrid plant configuration for different BESS sizes. Results showed that current investment costs of the storage section of the BESS make unprofitable its integration to the hybrid plant, so, it is required a reduction of approximately 60–90% of the storage cost (based on a reference value of 300 USD/kWh) to achieve competitive LCOEs in comparison to those obtained for a hybrid plant without BESS. Under this BESS cost reduction scenario, it was found a solutions domain with different hybrid plant configurations, which allow to integrate and complement the production of both CSP and PV plants with both storage types in a synergetic operation. Also, a comparative study evaluating the differences between implementing a fixed-tilt PV configuration or a one-axis tracking system in the hybrid plant scheme was carried out, obtaining that the annual production of the hybrid plant increases by no more than 5% with the tracking system, while the LCOE is reduced up to -1.98% due to a decrease of the BESS participation in the total output. These results indicate that the minimum LCOE configurations of a hybrid CSP + PV plant with tracked PV arrays (given a BESS size) could result in smaller PV plants, since the PV production increases in comparison to that with a fixed-tilt PV configuration.

The concentrated solar power technology used in schemes of cogeneration for the production of power and heat, or power and cooling is an interesting option to develop in Chile, mainly due to the high solar potential. Besides, cogeneration is an option to face the demand for energy in terms of electricity, industrial heat or cooling, which is increasing in Chile in recent years. A concentrated solar power cogeneration plant based in parabolic trough technology with a backup system of a biogas heater and a direct steam generation scheme is proposed. The cogeneration study considers two different plants, one for power and heat, and other for power and cooling, which were studied in Santiago, Chile. The results show a benefit in fossil fuels replacement when the cogeneration plant is compared to a conventional plant for production of industrial heat. In the case of cooling, electricity savings are achieved when the cogeneration plant is compared to a conventional vapor-compression system. The cooling demand can be supplied totally using an absorption chiller in the cogeneration scheme, reaching electricity energy saving of up to 99%. For cogeneration of power and heat the energy replacement in the industrial heat process are as minimum 69% depending on the demand and configuration of the plant, and can reach up to 100%. Finally, when the biogas heater is disconnected from the plant to consider a case only based in the concentrated solar power plant, the cogeneration scheme for cooling can reach an electricity saving of 4%. The cogeneration scheme for heat can reach an energy replacement of 14% as minimum.