Solar steam reforming of natural gas integrated with a gas turbine power plant: Economic assessment

A hybrid power plant wherein solar steam reforming of natural gas and a steam injected gas turbine power plant are integrated for solar syngas production and use has been developed by the authors. In this plant a gas turbine is fed by a mixture of natural gas and solar syngas, which is mainly composed of hydrogen and water steam, from mid-low temperature steam reforming reaction whose heat duty is supplied by a parabolic trough Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant. The paper shows an economic assessment of the proposed solution if applied, in particular, in North-African Countries: a comparison is made between a traditional system and the innovative proposed one. The Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) computation shows how the solar hybridization can contribute to a reduction of electric energy production costs of about -2.7%. Net Present Value (NPV) analysis shows how, at the end of plant life, the hybrid plant produces a higher NPV, thus producing a net benefit about 11% higher than the traditional one. Moreover, the hybrid power plant LCOE and NPV have been computed at different electric energy revenues and natural gas costs. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.