Table 1.3 CSP projects with central receiver (power tower) concepts integrated with thermal energy storage systems.
| Power tower CSP projects | Thermal energy storage (TES) | Thermal energy storage capacity | Storage description and material |
| Atacama-1 | 2-tank direct | 17.5 hours | Molten salt |
| Aurora Solar Energy Project | 2-tank direct | 8 hours | Molten salt |
| Copiapó | 2-tank direct | 14 hours | Molten salt |
| Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project (Tonopah) | 2-tank direct | 10 hours | Molten salt |
| Dahan Power Plant | Other | 1 hour | Saturated steam/oil |
| DEWA CSP Tower Project | 2-tank direct | 15 hours | Molten salt |
| Gemasolar Thermosolar Plant (Gemasolar) | 2-tank direct | 15 hour(s) | Molten salt |
| Golden Tower 100MW Molten Salt project | 2-tank direct | 8 hours | Molten salt |
| Golmud | 2-tank direct | 15 hours | Molten salt |
| Greenway CSP Mersin Tower Plant | Other | 4 MW/h | Molten salt |
| Hami 50 MW CSP Project | 2-tank direct | 8 hours | Molten salt |
| Huanghe Qinghai Delingha 135 MW DSG Tower CSP Project | 2-tank indirect | 3.7 hours | Molten salt |
| Jemalong Solar Thermal Station | 2-tank direct | 3 hours | Liquid sodium |
| Jülich Solar Tower | Other | 1.5 hours | Ceramic heat sink |
| Khi Solar One | Other | 2 hours | Saturated steam |
| Likana Solar Energy Project | 2-tank direct | 13 hours | Molten salt |
| MINOS | 2-tank indirect | 5 hours | Molten salt 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate |
| NOOR III | 2-tank direct | 7 hours | Molten salt |
| Qinghai Gonghe 50 MW CSP Plant | 2-tank direct | 6 hours | Molten salt |
| Redstone Solar Thermal Power Plant | 2-tank direct | 12 hours | Molten salt |
| Shangyi 50MW DSG Tower CSP project | 2-tank indirect | 4 hours | Molten salt |
| Shouhang Dunhuang 10 MW Phase I | 2-tank direct | 15 hours | Molten salt |
| Shouhang Dunhuang 100 MW Phase II | 2-tank direct | 11 hours | Molten salt |
| SUPCON Delingha 10 MW Tower | 2-tank direct | 2 hours | Molten salt |
| SUPCON Delingha 50 MW Tower | 2-tank direct | 7 hours | Molten salt |
| Tamarugal Solar Energy Project | 2-tank direct | 13 hours | Molten salt |
| Yumen 100MW Molten Salt Tower CSP project | 2-tank direct | 10 hours | Molten salt |
| Yumen 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP project | 2-tank direct | 6 hours | Molten salt |
Gujarat Solar One (Technology Parabolic Trough), a commercial plant developed by Cargo Solar Power, operates at a temperature range of 293ºC-393ºC and 9 hours storage capacity involving molten salt. Extresol-1, a commercial plant in Spain, developed by ACS/Cobra Group, uses storage system of capacity 7.5 hour(s). The storage material is a combination of various materials with 60% sodium nitrate and 40% potassium nitrate. Similarly, a large number of concentrating solar power (CSP) projects with all receiver concepts (except for dish system) use an active two-tank indirect storage system. The summary is listed in Tables 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3.
1.3.2 Active Single-Tank Thermocline
In a thermocline system, a single tank is used where warm fluid is above colder fluid. These kinds of systems are less expensive than two-tank systems [Figure 1.8]. The heat loss is more in such systems as the hot and cold fluids are in direct contact. The hot and cold temperature regions are separated by a temperature gradient resulting
