MASERMIC and SBP Sonne have completed the commissioning of the 50MW HAMI tower solar plant located in CHINA, XINJIANG province. It is based on the STELLIO heliostat solar field technology. The solar plant can supply energy to the grid for 22 hours thanks to a molten salt storage system, supplying more than 20,000 homes and industries in the HAMI area and reducing CO2 emissions by 25,000 tons annually. The annual energy generated will be 200 GWh.

[Ed: the novel STELLIO heliostats  seen here, and used in this Hami Tower CSP project, won the SolarPACES Innovation Award for 2015]

The HAMI solar plant is the first to incorporate the novel STELLIO technology developed and patented by MASERMIC and SBP Sonne. The STELLIO heliostat is based on a new kinematics concept, a pentagonal structure of 50m2 of mirrored surfaces, and robotic operation through 2 linear electric actuators for Azimuth and Elevation. The characteristics of STELLIO allow for improving the performance of the solar field by 10% thanks to its high optical quality, precise tracking, very low level of astigmatism, lower atmospheric attenuation, reduction of the effect of shadows and blockages between heliostats, a Slope error < 1.5mrad (2D) and a tracking error < 0.5mrad (1D).

The solar plant installs 45,000 pieces of electronic equipment designed and manufactured by MASERMIC both for the automation of each of the 15,000 heliostats of the solar field and for the management of the advanced communications network architecture that provides speed and reliability in the bidirectional transmission of data between the heliostats and the solar field control system (SCS).

The advanced control software (SCS) developed by MASERMIC allows integral management of the solar field: Operation, Monitoring, Command, Historical, and Maintenance. Furthermore, the project integrates an advanced software algorithm for the automatic calibration of heliostats complemented with an artificial vision system, allowing to put the STELLIO heliostats into operation automatically without the need for manual intervention, achieving much faster commissioning of the solar field and improving the safety of operators in the field.

To enhance the commissioning, maintenance and innovation capabilities of the STELLIO solar field, MASERMIC has developed a Digital Twin of the Solar Field. Hence, the software development can be simulated and contrasted, guaranteeing correct functionality before starting solar field commissioning or STELLIO heliostats software upgrade.

MASERMIC has developed a powerful tool to operate the heliostats remotely. Hence, any software upgrading or heliostat monitoring in the solar field can be managed quickly, reducing time intervention and costs.

Thanks to the success achieved with this first tower solar plant based on STELLIO heliostats, MASERMIC and SBP Sonne are managing the development of new solar plants in CHINA.

Source: Masermic