Evaluation of the Levelized Cost of Energy With New Costs for Concentrating Solar Power Tower Plants in Northern Chile and Impact of Green Taxes

Abstract

The world is undergoing an energy transformation, from a system based on fossil fuels to a system based on renewable energy, in order to reach the Paris Agreement target. Chile is no exception, and through the Asociación de Concentración Solar de Potencia (ACSP) has generated a new cost structure for tower-based Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology in the framework of the Long-Term Energy Plan, which updates the costs reported in previous studies. The changes experienced in this cost structure make it necessary to study the impact of this cost structure on the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). This work develops simulations of CSP tower plants analyzing their generation and the LCOE based on the new cost structure mentioned, for the north of Chile between the Arica and Parinacota region and the Coquimbo region. The most relevant results show a significant reduction in the LCOE, compared to studies from 2020, reaching a minimum LCOE value of 52,6 USD/MWh. On the other hand, the impact on the net social benefit of including the green tax to the merit order of each of the generating plants that make up the electric park until 2021 is studied, which yields a negative impact under current legislation.