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Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

Concentrating Solar Power 

Hybrid System Study

Cooperative Research and 

Development Final Report

CRADA Number: CRD-13-506

NREL Technical Contact: Craig Turchi

CRADA Report

NREL/TP-5500-62766

September 2014
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Cover Photos: (left to right) photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16416, photo from SunEdison, NREL 17423, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 

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This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Cooperative Research and Development Final Report

In accordance with Requirements set forth in Article XI.A(3) of the CRADA document, this document is 

the final CRADA report, including a list of Subject Inventions, to be forwarded to the Office of Science 

and Technical Information as part of the commitment to the public to demonstrate results of federally 

funded research.

CRADA Number: CRD-13-506

CRADA Title: Concentrating Solar Power Hybrid System Study

Parties to the Agreement: GE Global Research

Joint Work Statement Funding Table Showing DOE Commitment:

Estimated Costs NREL Shared Resources

Year 1 $139,000

Year 2 $00.00

Year 3 $00.00

TOTALS $139,000.00

Abstract of CRADA Work:

The purpose of this Project Task Statement (PTS) is to collaboratively leverage the collective resources at 

General Electric Global Research (GEGRC) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 

the areas of concentrating solar power hybrid systems to advance state-of-the-art concentrating solar and 

conventional power generation system integration.

Summary of Research Results:

This project was a collaborative effort between GEGRC and NREL to develop a state-of-the-art model of 

a representative integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) power plant. Simulation models were developed 

by GEGRC and NREL in two different software packages and the results were cross-checked. The chosen 

integration scheme extracts high-pressure feedwater from a combined cycle plant’s heat recovery steam 

generator (HRSG) and sends that water to a solar power-tower facility that returns high-pressure, solargenerated steam to the HRSG. The team performed a series of operating scenarios to map the 

performance space of the selected design under varying ambient weather and solar generation conditions. 

The resulting model was incorporated in NREL’s System Advisor Model to allow users the ability to 

estimate annual performance of a representative ISCC system.

Subject Inventions Listing: None.

Report Date: March 18, 2014

Responsible Technical Contact at Alliance/NREL: Craig Turchi

This document contains NO confidential, protectable, or proprietary information.