DEWA solar power plant (UAE): first molten salts injected into the receiver designed and supplied by John Cockerill
July 25th 2022
The DEWA solar thermal power plant in the Dubai desert reached another major milestone on 14 July 2022: the first salts were injected into the receiver designed and supplied by John Cockerill. Commissioning is continuing in order to reach 565°C at the receiver outlet. This molten salt technology, used as a heat transfer fluid, enables electricity to be generated 24 hours a day. Once the temperature of 565°C has been reached, thanks to 70,000 heliostats reflecting the sun’s rays to heat exchangers, the salts are stored for 15 hours, enabling electricity to be produced day and night at a stable and continuous power of 100 MW.
This technology is impressive both in terms of its dimensions and its capabilities: a giant interlacing of pipes, tanks and heat exchangers, the element weighs 1 500 tons and is itself about forty meters high. As the technological heart of the plant, it enables the supply of electricity to 320 000 households and the avoidance of 1.6 million tons of CO2 emissions per year.
