Optimizing Efficiency of Biomass—Fired Organic Rankine Cycle with Concentrated Solar Power in Denmark

A first of its kind concentrated solar power (CSP) installation has been integrated together with a biomass heat and power (CHP) plant using an organic rankine cycle (ORC) unit. The plant has been deployed in the northern part of Jutland in Denmark, right next to the city of Brønderslev. The plant has been supplying heat to the local district heating network since the end of 2016.

Aalborg CSP has developed and built the CSP plant consisting of parabolic trough collectors with an aperture reflecting area of 26,920 m2. The CSP plant is able to deliver 16.6 MWth at its peak while it can supply the district heating or the ORC with approximately 16,000 MWh of heat annually. This paper serves as a description of the technical aspects of the system with specific focus on the CSP field as well as present the first measured performance from the Summer of 2017.