A multi-state reliability evaluation model of CSP plants considering partial function failure

This paper proposes a multi-state reliability evaluation model for the concentrated solar power (CSP) plant considering partial function failure. Firstly, the component functions and components’ consequences of random failure of CSP plants are analyzed. Core components affecting the output of CSP plants are selected. The CSP plant is divided into three subsystems: the heat collection, the heat exchange, and the power generation subsystems, according to the component function. Each subsystem is equivalent to a two-state component. Thus, an 8-state Markov model of CSP plant is established. The CSP plant can be operated in a partial function failure state as thermal energy storage (TES) or generation, depending on the functions of solar-heat and heat-electricity conversion. On this basis, the 8-state model can be simplified to a 4-state model by combining the partial function failure states of the same effect. Finally, the 4-state model is applied to the sequential Monte Carlo simulation for the reliability evaluation of power systems containing CSP plants. Two TES strategies are considered in the simulation: One is based on solar field (SF) average output, another is designed to satisfy the load preferentially. The proposed model is tested on the modified RBTS/IEEE RTS systems to verify the effectiveness.