In a parabolic trough or Fresnel CSP system, except for reflecting mirror, heat collector tube is another very important equipment. The great need for heat collector and its critical performance will have a direct influence on the heat-collecting efficiency and economic gains of a CSP plant.
At present, Rioglass Solar S.A of Spain and Archimede Solar Energy (ASE) of Italy are two main heat collector manufacturers in the international market. In China, some representative manufacturers include Royal Tech CSP Limited, Huiyin-Group, Beijing TRX Solar Technology Co., Ltd., Shanxi Baoguang Vacuum Electric Device Co., Ltd., Lanzhou Dacheng Technology Co., Ltd., General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals and Camda New Energy Equipment Co., Ltd.
Production capacity and supply cycle of these main manufacturers
For a parabolic trough or Fresnel CSP plant with an installed capacity of 50MW, the total demand for heat collector is around 25,000~30,000. Calculate roughly, the total demand for China’s first batch of demonstration projects is around 31,000~37,000.
According to the journalist from CSPPLAZA, now, the specific production capacity and supply cycle of each main heat collector manufacturers are listed in the chart below ( All these statistics are provided by each manufacturer, and do not go through any investigation and study. ).
How much influence rising cost of raw materials has on the price of heat collector?
Zhanglei, the global marketing director from Royal Tech CSP Limited, told CSPPLAZA journalist: ” Lately, the costs of glass tube and stainless steel tube have risen about 15~20%, which will cause a rise of heat collector cost at about 20%.
However, Beijing TRX does not show much concern on the rising cost of raw materials. Beijing TRX said, “In recent years, with the improved technology and expanded production capacity, the price of heat collector has declined a lot compared to the previous price. Even though there is a rise on the cost of raw material, the price of heat collector will not change dramatically.
In addition, Huiyin-Group expressed their opinions. Huiyin thought the technology and quality of heat collector tube is the most important. They also shared an example with us. In American SEGS parabolic trough plants and some Spanish parabolic trough plants, the problem of hydrogen leaking had not been solved in time, which resulted in a lot of heat loss after just 5~7 years of operation of collector tube and exerted extreme influence on plants’ power generation performance. “China’s demonstration projects should learn a lesson and try their best to avoid same problems.” Huiyin-Group told CSPPLAZA journalist.
Meanwhile, cause heat collector is a technology-intensive product and there are so many manufacturers from both home and abroad, the competition between them will be so intense. The market of heat collector may go through a cruel reshaping.
cspplaza.com
