A concentrated solar power system with trough collectors will supply 50 MW of an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) Power plant’s total capacity of 550 MW. The ISCC is located on the Arabian Peninsula and will use the “Ultimate Trough Collector” series produced by the Germany-based company Flabeg FE GmbH.

According to the manufacturer the Ultimate Trough collector can yield a 10% higher performance and up to 20% lower costs when compared to the standard Eurotrough technology. Cost savings are due to less material being used, less assembly work and improved optical efficiency. Flabeg FE developed the parabolic trough collector in collaboration with sbp sonne GmbH.

The ISCC plant will use natural gas as primary fuel, but also use CSP technology to generate electricity. It will be the first commercial power plant to use Flabeg FE’s new trough system. So far the Ultimate Trough has only been deployed in a test loop within an existing 80 MW CSP plant in California where it produces electricity using synthetic oil as heat transfer fluid since February 2013. The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has audited and confirmed its performance.

According to the manufacturer, a solar field using the Ultimate Trough can withstand wind speeds of up to 40 m/s or 144 km/hour, but it can also be adapted for even higher wind speeds.

The Flabeg FE GmbH is fully owned by the Saudi Arabian ACWA Holding, which specializes in power and water infrastructure development.

FLABEG FE GmbH, located in Furth im Wald and Cologne, Germany and 100% owned by the Saudi Arabian ACWA Holding (a MENA leader in infrastructural development specializes in the power and water sectors), is the global leading developer and manufacturer of solar mirrors for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV). By using the most modern bending and coating technologies, the company is able to produce solar mirrors with a focus deviation (FDx) lower than 6 mm and an energy reflection of more than 94.5%. The extremely robust mirrors were installed in the first commercially operated power stations in the early 1980s. These mirrors are still in daily operation today, without any decline in performance or efficiency. FLABEG FE has been expanding its skills in the area of engineering services in parabolic trough technology. The company has developed a new collector design – the Ultimate Trough Collector with a 20% higher cost efficiency compared to currently available technology.