Re:Vast solar power plant at the Moroccan desert
by frandroid on Monday December 05, 2016 @05:23PM
(#13110321)
They could modulate the use of the molten salts according to the weather forecast or electricity grid prices/demand. I'm assuming Morocco doesn't have grid-level dynamic pricing but if they're forecasting clouds the day after sunlight they could maybe hang on to the hot salts over night and push the heat to the steam-generator the next day when demand spikes again.
"The plant keeps generating energy after sunset, when electricity demands peak. Some of the day’s energy is stored in reservoirs of superhot molten salts made of sodium and potassium nitrates, which keeps production going for up to three hours. In the next phase of the plant, production will continue for up to eight hours after sunset."