In the research project »MinWaterCSP« a consortium aims to reduce the annual water consumption of a Concentrated Solar Power plant (CSP) through a number of complementary measures while maintaining or even improving thermal efficiency and reducing capital costs. This will be done through a holistic combination of next generation technologies in the fields of hybrid dry/wet cooling systems, axial flow fans, wire structure heat transfer surfaces, comprehensive water management plans, mirror cleaning techniques and optimized cleaning schedules.

CSP plants are often installed in arid areas where solar irradiation is high and water resources are scarce. CSP plants making use of traditional wet-cooling systems consume a large amount of water because of both cooling system evaporation losses and mirror cleaning processes. According to an announcement, the project partners »have already achieved excellent results«. The consortium designed a novel hybrid dry/wet cooling system which reduces water evaporation losses by between 75 and 95 percent, compared to a solely wet cooling system. For the cleaning process, a reduction of 25 percent of the previous water consumption seems achievable with a positive impact on operation costs for contractors.

»MinWaterCSP« has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The project started in January 2016 and will be completed in December 2018. The project consortium consists of 13 partners from 6 different EU- and non-EU countries. It is coordinated by Kelvion Holding GmbH (Project Coordinator, Germany) and ENEXIO Management GmbH (Technical Coordinator, Germany).