Schlaich Bergermann

Solar GmbH

1 INTRODUCTION
Current electricity production from coal, oil and natural gas is damaging the environment, is non-
sustainable and many developing countries cannot afford these energy sources. Nuclear power
stations are an unacceptable risk in most locations. But inadequate energy supply leads to or
maintains poverty, which commonly is accompanied by population explosion: a vicious circle.
Sensible technology for the wide use of renewable energy must be simple and reliable, accessible
to the technologically less developed countries that are sunny and often have limited raw material
resources, it should not need cooling water or produce waste and should be based on
environmentally sound production from renewable or recyclable materials.
The solar updraft tower meets these conditions and makes it possible to take the crucial step
towards a global solar energy economy. Economic appraisals based on experience and knowledge
gathered so far have shown that large scale solar updraft towers ( ≥ 100 MW) are capable of
generating energy at costs close to those of conventional power plants. This is reason enough to
further develop this form of solar energy utilization, up to large, economically viable units. In a
future energy economy, solar updraft towers could thus help assure the economic and environ–
mentally benign provision of energy in sunny regions.

Figure 1. Solar Updraft Tower Principle

Although invented by others already 1001 years ago, Schlaich Bergermann has taken up the solar
updraft tower concept about 30 years back and developed it to the present stage of technical and
economical feasibility. Thermodynamic behaviour has been investigated and tested in a pilot plant in
Manzanares in Spain, forming the basis for the layout of large plants.
Extensive research work and detailed analyses by Schlaich Bergermann have proven the con-
structibility of huge towers in general and have resulted in an economically optimised structural
concept for tower and collector.

1
In 1903, Spanish Army Colonel Isidoro Cabanyes first proposed a solar chimney power plant in the magazine
La energía eléctrica. One of the earliest descriptions of a solar chimney power plant was written in 1931 by a
German author, Hanns Günther. He already described the Desertec concept, too.

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2 THE SOLAR UPDRAFT TOWER TECHNICAL CONCEPT

2.1 Principle
Man learned to make active use of solar energy at a very early stage: greenhouses helped to grow
food, chimney suction ventilated and cooled buildings and windmills ground corn and pumped
water.
The solar updraft tower’s three essential elements – solar air collector, chimney/tower, and wind
turbines – have thus been familiar for centuries, but are combined now in a novel way.
The principle is shown in Figure 1: Air is heated by solar radiation under a low circular
transparent roof open at the periphery; the roof and the natural ground below form an air collector. In
the middle of the roof is a vertical tower with large air inlets at its base. The joint between the roof
and the tower base is airtight. As hot air is lighter than cold air it rises up the tower. Suction from the
tower then draws in more hot air from the collector, and cold air comes in from the outer perimeter.
Thus solar radiation causes a constant updraft in the tower. The energy contained in the updraft is
converted into mechanical energy by pressure-staged turbines at the base of the tower, and into
electrical energy by conventional generators.
Continuous 24 hours-operation can be achieved by placing tight water-filled tubes or bags under
the roof (Figure 3 and Figure 4). The water heats up during day-time and releases its heat at night.
These tubes are filled only once, no further water is needed.

2.2 Power Output

Electrical output of a solar updraft tower is proportional to the volume included within the tower
height and collector area (Figure 2.). The same output may result from a larger tower with a smaller
collector area and vice versa.

πD²
Acoll =
4

Figure 2. Electricity generation of a solar updraft tower is in proportion to the volume

defined by tower height and collector diameter

2.3 Components

2.3.1 Collector
Hot air for the solar updraft tower is produced by the greenhouse effect in a simple air collector
consisting of a glass or plastic film glazing stretched nearly horizontally several meters above the

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ground. The height of the glazing increases towards the tower base, finally the air is diverted from
horizontal into vertical movement with minimum friction loss. This glazing admits the shortwave
solar radiation to penetrate and retains longwave re-radiation from the heated ground. Thus the
ground under the roof heats up and transfers its heat to the air above flowing radially from the
outside to the tower.

2.3.2 Storage
If additional thermal storage capacity is desired, water filled black tubes or bags are laid down side
by side on the radiation absorbing soil under the collector.

glass roof

into the soil and

into the air into the air
the water tubes

soil soil
water tubes
Day Night

Figure 3: Principle of thermal energy storage with water-filled tubes

The tubes are filled with water once and remain closed thereafter, so that no evaporation can take
place (Figure 3). The volume of water in the tubes is selected to correspond to a water layer with a
depth of 5 to 20 cm depending on the desired power output characteristics (Figure 4).

100
natural ground storage
water storage 10 cm
80
water storage 20 cm
Power (%)

60

40

20

0
0:00 3:00 6:00 9:00 12:00 15:00 18:00 21:00 0:00

Time (h)

Figure 4. Effect of heat storage underneath the collector roof using water-filled black
tubes.

Since the heat capacity of water (4.2 kJ/kg) is much higher than that of soil (0.75 – 0.85 kJ/kg) the
water inside the tubes stores a part of the solar heat and releases it during the night when the air in
the collector cools down. This enables the plant to run for 24h per day on pure solar energy.

2.3.3 Tower
The tower itself (Figure 5) is the plant's actual thermal engine. It is a pressure tube with low friction
loss (like a hydro power station pressure tube or pen stock) because of its favorable surface-volume
ratio. The updraft of the air heated in the collector is approximately proportional to the air
temperature rise (ΔT) in the collector and to the height of the tower. In a large solar updraft tower the
collector raises the air temperature by about 30 to 35 K. This produces an updraft velocity in the

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tower of about 15m/s at full load. It is thus possible to enter into an operating solar tower power
plant for maintenance without danger from high air velocities.

2.3.4 Turbines
Using turbines, mechanical output in the form of rotational energy can be derived from the air
current in the tower. Turbines in a solar updraft tower do not work with staged velocity like a free-
running wind energy converter, but as a shrouded pressure-staged wind turbo generator, in which,
similarly to a hydroelectric power station, static pressure is converted to rotational energy using a
cased turbine. The specific power output (power per area swept by the rotor) of a shrouded pressure-
staged turbine in the solar updraft tower is roughly one order of magnitude higher than that of a
velocity staged wind turbine. Air speed before and after the turbine is about the same. The output
achieved is proportional to the product of volume flow per time unit and the pressure differential
over the turbine. With a view to maximum energy yield the aim of the turbine control system is to
maximize this product under all operating conditions.

Figure 5. Tower tube of a solar updraft tower power plant.

To this end, blade pitch is adjusted during operation to regulate power output according to the
altering airspeed and airflow. If the flat sides of the blades are perpendicular to the airflow, the
turbine does not turn. If the blades are parallel to the air flow and allow the air to flow through
undisturbed there is no drop in pressure at the turbine and no electricity is generated. Between these
two extremes there is an optimum blade setting: the output is maximized if the pressure drop at the
turbine is about 80 % of the total pressure differential available, depending on weather and operating
conditions as well as on plant design.

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3 HISTORY – MANZANARES AND THEREAFTER

Based on detailed theoretical preliminary research and a wide range of wind tunnel experiments
Schlaich Bergermann has designed, constructed and operated an experimental plant with a peak
output of 50 kW on a site made available by the Spanish utility Union Electrica Fenosa in
Manzanares (about 150 km south of Madrid) in 1981/82 (Figure 6), with funds provided by the
German Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT).

Figure 6. Prototype of the solar updraft tower at Manzanares, Spain

The aim of this research project was to verify, through field measurements, the performance
projected from calculations based on theory, and to examine the influence of individual components
on the plant's output and efficiency under realistic engineering and meteorological conditions.

Figure 7. Turbine of the prototype plant Figure 8. Glass roof of the prototype plant

Figure 9 presents a comparison between the measured and calculated average monthly energy
outputs, showing that there is good agreement between the theoretical and measured values. Overall,
it may be said that the optical and thermodynamic processes in a solar updraft tower are well
understood and that models have attained a degree of maturity so that they accurately reproduce
plant behavior under given meteorological conditions.

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energy [kWh/day]
300
calculated annual energy totals:
measured calculated: 44.35 MWh
250
measured: 44.19 MWh

200

150

100

50

0
Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec.

Figure 9. Comparison of measured and calculated monthly energy outputs for the
Manzanares plant.

4 COMMERCIAL SOLAR UPDRAFT TOWER POWER PLANTS

4.1 General system advantages

Apart from working on a very simple principle, solar updraft towers have a number of special
features:
1. The collector can use all solar radiation, both direct and diffuse. This is crucial for tropical
countries where the sky is frequently overcast.
2. Due to the soil under the collector working as a natural heat storage system, solar updraft
towers will operate 24 h on pure solar energy, at reduced output at night time. If desired, additional
water tubes or bags placed under the collector roof absorb part of the radiated energy during the day
and release it into the collector at night. Thus solar updraft towers can operate as base load power
plants. As the plant's prime mover is the air temperature difference (=air density difference) between
the air in the tower and ambient air, lower ambient temperatures at night help to keep the output at an
almost constant level even when the temperature of natural and additional thermal storage also
decreases without sunshine, as the temperature difference remains practically the same.
3. Solar updraft towers are particularly reliable. Turbines and generators - subject to a steady flow
of air - are the plant's only moving parts. This simple and robust structure guarantees operation that
needs little maintenance and of course no combustible fuel.
4. Unlike conventional power stations (and also some other solar-thermal power station types),
solar updraft towers do not need cooling water. This is a key advantage in the many sunny countries
that already have major problems with water supply.
5. The building materials needed for solar updraft towers, mainly concrete and glass, are available
everywhere in sufficient quantities. In fact, with the energy taken from the solar tower itself and the
stone and sand available in the desert, they can be reproduced partly on site.
6. Solar updraft towers can be built now, even in less industrially developed countries. The
industry already available in most countries is entirely adequate for solar updraft tower requirements.
No investment in high-tech manufacturing plants is needed.
7. Even in less developed countries it is possible to build a large plant without high foreign
currency expenditure by using local resources and work-force; this creates large numbers of jobs
while significantly reducing the required capital investment and thus the cost of generating
electricity.

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Nevertheless, solar updraft towers also have some features that make them less suitable for some
sites: They require large areas of flat land. This land should be available at low cost, which means
that there should be no competing usage, like e.g. intensive agriculture for the land. The siting of the
solar updraft tower has to be carefully considered in extremely earthquake prone areas.

4.2 Scale-Up
Detailed investigations, supported by extensive wind tunnel experiments, show that thermodynamic
calculations for collector, tower and turbine are very reliable for large plants as well.
Despite considerable area and volume differences between the Manzanares pilot plant and a
projected 100 MW facility, the key thermodynamic factors are of similar size in both cases. Using
the temperature rise and air velocity in the collector as examples, the measured temperature rise at
Manzanares was a daily average of 8 K, wind speed was average 4 meters per second, while the
corresponding calculated average figures for a 100 MW facility are 11 K and 9 meters per second.
Therefore measurements taken from the experimental plant in Manzanares and solar updraft
tower thermodynamic behavior simulation codes are used to design large plants with an output of up
to 200 MW.
In this way the overall performance of the plant, by day and by season, given the pre-scribed plant
geometry and climate, considering all physical phenomena including single and double glazing of
the collector, heat storage system, and pressure losses in collector, tower and turbine, can be
calculated rather accurately.

4.3 Optimisation
Electricity yielded by a solar updraft tower is in proportion to the intensity of global solar radiation,
collector area and tower height. There is in fact no optimum physical size for such plants. Optimum
dimensions can be calculated only by including specific component costs (collector, tower, turbines)
for individual sites. And so plants of different optimum key dimensions will be built for different
sites - but always at optimum cost: if collector area is cheap and concrete expensive then the
collector will be large and the tower relatively small, and if the collector is expensive there will be a
smaller collector and a tall tower.
To give an overview, typical dimensions for selected solar updraft tower capacities are given in
Table 1. The numbers are based on typical material and construction costs.

Table 1. Typical Dimensions and Electricity Output

Capacity 50 MW 100 MW 200 MW

tower height m 750 1000 1000

tower diameter m 90 110 120
collector diameter m 3750 4300 7000
electricity output at 2300 kWh/(m²yr)A GWh/a 153 320 680
electricity output at 1800 kWh/(m²yr)B GWh/a 120 250 532
A
Annual global horizontal solar radiation of 2300 kWh/(m²a), a value found at the best sites worldwide
B
Annual global horizontal solar radiation of 1800 kWh/(m²a), a typical value for Spain

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Table 2. Investment Cost and Electricity Cost

Capacity 50 MW 100 MW 200 MW
Tower cost Mio. € 72 176 192 192
Average labor cost for collector construction 18 €/h 18 €/h 18 €/h 5 €/h
Collector cost Mio. € 142 189 474 390
Turbine cost incl. housing Mio. € 56 83 146 146
Engineering, tests, misc. Mio. € 32 51 53 53
Total investment cost Mio. € 302 499 865 781
Annuity on investment Mio. €/a 28.3 46.7 81 73.2
Annual operation & maintenance cost Mio. €/a 1.6 2.3 3.8 3.2

Electricity cost at 2300 kWh/(m²yr) A €/kWh 0.19 0.15 0.12 0.11

Electricity cost at 2300 kWh/(m²yr) B €/kWh 0.15 0.12 0.10 0.09
Electricity cost at 1800 kWh/(m²yr) A €/kWh 0.25 0.20 0.16 0.14

A
assuming weighted average cost of capital of 8 % and a depreciation time of 25 years
B
assuming weighted average cost of capital of 5 % and a depreciation time of 25 years

4.4 Electricity Generation Costs

Based on specific costs and the dimensions from Table 1, investment costs were calculated. For the
50 MW solar updraft tower investment costs of 302 M€ are estimated (see Table 2).
With the respective annual energy outputs from simulation runs, electricity costs (EC) are
calculated using weighted average cost of capital (WACC) of 8% and a depreciation time of 25
years. Results are shown in Table 2 for a 50 MW, a 100 MW and a 200 MW power plant. For all
plants two generic reference sites are considered with an annual insolation of 1800 and
2300 kWh/(m²yr) respectively, to show the effect of this important site characteristic (bottom rows
of Table 1 and Table 2). For the 200 MW solar updraft tower there is an additional column to the
very right with data assuming average labor cost of 5 €/h, as compared to the value of 18 €/h being
used before. An average labor cost for collector construction of 5 €/h, or even significantly below,
can be expected in low wage countries like, e.g., in North Africa, India, Mexico or China (cf. chapter
4.5 ‘The Market for Solar Updraft Towers’).
From Table 2 and Figure 10 it becomes obvious that with increasing plant size, a significant
reduction of electricity generation cost is associated, leading to EC of 0.12 €/kWh for a 200 MW
plant at a high-insolation site, with a further reduction in low wage countries of about one €-Cent
(see examples given in Table 2).

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0.50 €
Solar Updraft Towers 5 MW
0.45 €
Upper boundary: depreciation time 20 years

0.40 € Lower boundary: depreciation time 30 years

Annual insolation: 2300 kWh/m²

0.35 €

0.30 €
30 MW
0.25 € 50 MW
0.20 € 100 MW
0.15 € 200 MW

0.10 €

0.05 €
average labour rate in €/h: 5
0.00 €
1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12%

Non-energy revenues are not included.

Figure 10. Levelized Electricity Costs vs. weighted average cost of capital for solar updraft
towers (high insolation, low labor cost country)

The financial parameters ‘weighted average cost of capital’ (WACC) and depreciation time are
varied to illustrate their influence (Figure 10). The upper boundary was calculated for a depreciation
time of 20 years, the lower boundary for 30 years. As expected, electricity generating costs of the
capital intensive solar updraft towers are dominated by WACC. Depreciation time has a significant
influence, too. Assuming WACC of, e.g., 12 % and a depreciation time of 20 years leads to EC of
0.16 €/kWh for the 200 MW system at a location with 2300 kWh/(m²yr) of global solar radiation and
average collector labor costs of 5€/h. When, e.g. by clever financial engineering, WACC of 5% and a
depreciation time of 30 years are achieved, EC drop to 0.8 €/kWh, i.e. half the formerly calculated
value.

4.5 The Market for Solar Updraft Towers

According to the reference scenario of the latest IEA World Energy Outlook, world electricity
demand will grow at an average annual rate of 2.5% to 2030. Hence about 4800 GW of new capacity
between now and 2030 are needed to meet the projected increase in electricity demand and to replace
ageing infrastructure2. In this gigantic market, Solar Updraft Towers have to compete against
conventional power plants and against other types of solar power plants as well. According to the
reference scenario, the use of non-hydro modern renewable energy technologies (including solar)
sees the fastest rate of increase until 2030: The share of non-hydro renewables in total power output
rises from 2.5% in 2007 to 8.6% in 2030.

4.5.1 Areas with sufficiently high solar radiation

Many areas and countries in the sun belt of the earth, i.e. the zone about 35° north and south of the
equator, are suitable for solar updraft towers. As a rule of thumb, annual global horizontal radiation
should equal or be higher than 1800 kWh/m². Thus all areas marked in orange, yellow or magenta on
the map in Figure 11 are suitable.

2
See IEA World Energy Outlook 2009 Executive Summary, page 4

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Figure 11: Solar radiation world map (Source: Meteotest, Switzerland)

4.5.2 Conventional Competitors: Fossil-fuelled power plants

Today, most of world electricity is produced in power plants utilizing fossil fuels. Increasing demand
and the fact that fossil resources are limited result in rising, unstable, and often unpredictable fossil
fuel prices. Moreover, due to growing concern about the consequences of carbon dioxide emissions,
renewable energies play an increasingly important role in current energy policy.
Still, fossil fuels remain the dominant sources of primary energy worldwide in the IEA reference
scenario, accounting for more than three-quarters of the overall increase in energy use between 2007
and 2030. Even though its share drops, oil remains the single largest fuel in the primary fuel mix in
2030.

4.5.2.1 Oil-Fired Power Plants

Figure 12 shows electricity generation costs for oil-fired power plants as a function of oil price and
plant efficiency. Not quite surprisingly, electricity costs rise linearly with oil price. Even for
moderate oil prices of, say, 70 US$/barrel and a plant efficiency of 35%, electricity costs for the oil
fired power plants are about the same as for a 200 MW Solar Updraft Tower at a very sunny
location, even at average labor cost of 18€/h. In other words, compared to an oil-fired power plant,
the 200 MW Solar Updraft Tower is competitive even today.

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Levelized Electricity Cost

$0.35

0.25

$0.30

0.20
[US $ /kWhel ]

[€ /kWhel ]
$0.25
Oil-fired power plant, efficiency 35%

$0.20 0.15

$0.15
0.10
200 MW Solar Updraft Tower, 2300 kWh/m²/yr insolation,
$0.10 average labor cost 5 €/h, interest rate 8%, depreciation time 25 years

0.05
$0.05

oil price [ US $ / barrel ]

$0.00 0.00
$40 $50 $60 $70 $80 $90 $100 $110 $120 $130 $140 $150

Figure 12: Electricity Cost for Oil-Fired Power Plants and Solar Updraft Towers

4.5.3 Renewable Competitors: Parabolic Trough Power Plants, Power Towers and Linear
Fresnel Systems
Current Situation. In the US, parabolic trough power plants operate successfully since the 1980ies.
Installed capacity in the Mojave desert in California is 354 MW. Additional plants have been
constructed in Nevada (64 MW) and Arizona (1 MW) lately, while new projects with individual
capacities in the 200MW range have been announced.
Power tower systems are being promoted by Brightsource and eSolar: In June 2008, BrightSource
has commissioned a 4 to 6 MW pilot plant in the Negev desert in Israel. Currently it is developing its
first commercial solar power complex, located in Ivanpah, approximately 50 miles northwest of
Needles, California. Planned final capacity is up to 440 MW.
ESolar realized the 5 MW Sierra Sun Tower in California, the only operating power tower plant
in the US, and now plans to deploy its technology worldwide.
Ausra is promoting linear Fresnel systems in the US. The 5 MW Kimberlina power plant has
already been built and is operational, and an application for certification (AFC) has been filed for the
177 MW Carizzo Energy Solar Farm.
Dish/Stirling systems are being developed and promoted by Tessera Solar and Infinia. Both
companies built first demonstration units. Infinia announced to start large-scale series production in
2011.

As of today, in Spain about 2.3 GW of solar thermal power plant capacity have been approved
under the favorable feed-in tariff and are under construction, or already operational (~700 MW). The
majority of these plants are of the parabolic trough type with a capacity of 50 MW each. Two Power
Tower systems, PS-10 and PS20, with a combined capacity of 31 MW, are already operational, a
third power tower, Gemasolar, is under construction. One linear Fresnel pilot plant, Puerto Herrado I
developed by Novatec-Biosol, is operational. It has a capacity of 1.4 MW; the next step for this
technology will be the 30 MW system Puerto Herrado. Moreover, a small number of Dish/Stirling
systems is being operated in Spain. A 10 kW EuroDish-system designed by Schlaich Bergermann
was the first to generate electricity under the successful Spanish feed-in tariff.

Assessment. Parabolic Trough systems are a proven technology. This is a prerequisite for support by
the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). The GEF, established in 1991, is an independent financial

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organization that provides grants to developing countries for projects and programs that benefit the
global environment. The GEF supports solar thermal power generation projects in Brazil, Egypt,
India, Mexico and Morocco3, all of the parabolic trough type.
Power Towers have been of scientific interest throughout the last decades. Now they are poised
on the verge of commercialization. The important step of first smaller scale systems has been taken
in Spain and in the US. Different approaches are being followed. The next years will be critical. It
remains to be seen if power towers can achieve the commercial breakthrough that has been
prophesized for many years due to their potentially high thermodynamic efficiency.
Promoters of Linear Fresnel systems claim that due to the simpler collector design, Fresnel
systems are prone to be more cost efficient. On the other hand, as a consequence of its significantly
lower optical efficiency, a linear Fresnel collector may cost only about half of a parabolic trough
collector per square meter of aperture area in order to achieve real cost parity.
Dish/Stirling systems can achieve high efficiencies. They are modular and therefore also suitable
for small scale installations in the kilowatt range, but can also be used for large power plants and
should then profit from economies of mass production. Apart from cost reduction, a quite universal
task, the special challenge here is to achieve the low operation & maintenance cost and thus high
reliability required.

The trough design developed by Schlaich Bergermann has been selected for the majority of the
Spanish power plants. They also successfully developed their own dish/Stirling systems as well as
the tracker and concentrator for Infinia Corp. Moreover, they developed and built innovative
heliostats with excellent optical quality for central receiver systems. Therefore Schlaich Bergermann
is familiar with the whole range of solar thermal electricity generation technologies.
According to their calculations, the Solar Updraft Tower is the most cost effective way to
generate solar electricity. This is substantiated also by the numbers calculated and published by
others: The California Energy Commission e.g. found levelized electricity costs of 21.53 US-Cent
for parabolic trough power plants under Californian conditions4, substantially more than the cost we
calculated for a 200 MW solar updraft tower under solar radiation conditions comparable to
California (see Table 2).

4.5.4 Expected Market Development

We expect that the Solar Updraft Tower market will develop as follows
ƒ First Southern European countries with subsidies, namely Spain. Then
ƒ California and the Southwestern States of the US. Thereafter
ƒ North Africa and the
ƒ Rest of the world’s sun belt.

Spain. The next step from the successful operation of the solar updraft tower prototype in
Manzanares to a proven commercial technology will, most likely, also be taken in Spain due to the
very favorable conditions there. Most important are the high solar insolation and the feed-in tariff. In
the past, over 29 €-Cent per kWh have been guaranteed for 25 years. The revised and reduced feed-
in tariff is likely to be introduced in 2011. Thus, for the solar updraft tower, revenues in the range of
24 to 26 €-Cent can be expected.

Other European Countries. Countries like Greece, Italy, Portugal and France are following the
Spanish feed-in tariff example.

California and the other Southwestern States of the US. There are several factors that make a
positive market development for the Solar Updraft Tower very likely there:
ƒ Electricity demand is rapidly growing.

3
See www.solarpaces.org => projects
4
See http://www.energy.ca.gov/electricity/levelized_cost.html

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ƒ State policies target at reducing dependence from fossil fuels and at reducing CO2-emissions.
This is reflected by tax credits and Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards.
ƒ There is already a track record of solar thermal electricity: The SEGS parabolic trough plants in
the Mojave desert.
ƒ Daily and seasonal electricity demand and electricity production of solar updraft towers nicely
match due to the fact that demand (from air-conditioning) peaks in the afternoon when the solar
updraft towers without additional storage also produce most electricity.

North Africa. North African countries like Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Morocco are already active in
the field of large-scale solar power generation. Morocco and Egypt applied for a GEF grant to
support their solar activities. The power plant Kuraymat in Eqypt started operation in 2010. The
projects in Algeria (Hassi R’Mel) and Morocco (Ain Beni Mathar) will follow.
At present, because only parabolic troughs are considered a proven technology by the Word
Bank’s GEF, there is no alternative to this technology for countries working with the GEF. As soon
as solar updraft towers are accepted as proven technology, this technology that allows for a much
higher local scope of supply will be very attractive to North African countries. Algeria had issued a
request for proposal independently of the GEF, nevertheless, only proposals based on a proven
technology shall be accepted for the time being.
North Africa is a promising region for solar updraft towers also because, apart from producing
electricity for local demand, electricity can be exported from Africa to Europe, too. The required grid
connection partially exist (links from Morocco to Spain) or will be built soon (begin of construction
of a connection from Tunisia to Sicily is scheduled for 2011). Additionally, the DESERTEC project,
if realized, will implement a high capacity high voltage direct current grid around the Mediterranean,
including east-west and south-north links.

Rest of the world’s sun belt. The rest of the world’s sunbelt will follow thereafter as soon as solar
thermal electricity in general and solar updraft towers in particular have been established as
standards. Countries who are already active in the field of solar thermal electricity like the members
of the IEA-SolarPACES5 organization are likely to be the forerunners in this group. Australia, Brazil,
Mexico and Iran are candidates.

4.6 Summary and Conclusions

Fossil fuel prices will continue to rise, as resources are limited and demand is rising rapidly. Solar
Updraft Towers today are already directly competitive with oil-fired power plants. Due to rising
costs for all fossil fuels including natural gas, they will soon be also competitive with natural gas
fired combined cycle plants. The need for carbon-free environmentally benign power generation
technologies will further boost the demand for solar power plants.

5
See http://www.solarpaces.org

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