Perspectives for Expansion of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Generation Technologies in Brazil

The world is moving towards a low-carbon economy through renewable energy sources. In this context, concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies can exploit the rich solar resource in Brazil, diversifying the national electricity mix. The aim of this paper is to support the insertion of CSP generation in the Brazilian bottom-up model MATRIZ by analyzing the environmental performance of three CSP technologies: (i) solar tower power (STP) with a thermal storage system (TSS) of 7.5 h; (ii) solar thermal parabolic trough (STPT) with a TSS of 6 h; and (iii) STPT without TSS. From a life cycle perspective, their freshwater consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are addressed by employing the software SimaPro, the Ecoinvent database, and the ReCiPe 2016 method, as well as information from the system advisory model (SAM) and the literature. As a result, STP is the most environmentally sound CSP alternative, presenting lower GHG emissions and water consumption than the two STPT technologies. In general, CSP generation proves to be more environmentally attractive than some fossil-fired power plants and renewable energy sources. Moreover, moving the manufacturing of CSP technologies to Brazil has the potential to reduce GHG emissions from the upstream processes of their value chain.