Market Served
Alternative Energy
Success Story: Hine Renovables
Eaton technology helps Hine Renovables deliver for solar plants
set to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in South Africa
Segment:
Solar Power
Location:
South Africa
Challenge:
Supply durable valves for the
hydraulic power packs controlling
the precise movements of parabolic
troughs and heliostats in two new
advanced solar power plants. The
valves needed to operate reliably
in harsh operating conditions,
including heavy winds and widely
variable temperatures.
Solution:
More than 5,000 power packs were
delivered to drive the tracking
systems of parabolic troughs under
demanding circumstances.
Results:
A long-lasting and efficient solution
for tracking the parabolic troughs and
heliostats to the position of the sun.
The two plants, with a combined
capacity of 150 MW, will reduce
carbon dioxide emissions by an
estimated 500,000 tons per year.
Contact Information:
Pedro López Jacoste
EMEA Regional Sales Manager
+34 934796026
Eaton’s Hydraulics Group
[email protected]
”Our experience with
Eaton has been
excellent with
numerous projects.
It made sense to turn
to them again for our
solar power projects,”
Lander Guibelalde,
managing director of
Hine Renovables.
Background
Challenges
Solar farm builders develop and
apply technologies to generate
electricity from the sun, working
to help local communities
develop and improve their
carbon footprint with
concentrated solar thermal and
photovoltaic technologies.
Two large concentrated solar
power (CSP) plants in South
Africa feature the latest
technology found in highefficient solar power plants.
There are two different kinds of
CSP plants; both create steam,
which drives a turbine thus
producing electric power. One
plant type employs flat panels
(heliostats) to bundle the sun’s
rays and send them to a central
unit, the power tower. The
second uses parabolic glasses
that direct the sun’s energy
into a pipeline where thermal
fluid is heated.
Spanish hydraulics experts at
Hine Renovables design and
manufacture power packs that
drive the sun tracking systems
for the parabolic troughs and
heliostats used by solar power
companies. When selecting
hydraulic components for the
tracking systems, Hine has
relied on the quality and
competence of Eaton for more
than 30 years.
As the leading global supplier of
hydraulic power generation and
fluid distribution components
and systems, Eaton offers the
world’s most comprehensive
systems portfolio, which allows
the company to specifically
design a system that exceeds
customer requirements.
Two new solar projects in South
Africa – a parabolic trough with
a 100MW capacity and a solar
tower type plant with a 50MW
capacity – will combine to
reduce carbon dioxide emissions
by about 500,000 tons a year.
To ensure the system works
to its maximum capacity, the
solar panels must be angled to
the sun by a tracking system.
This system, incorporated in
each panel and meticulously
©2014 Eaton, All Rights Reserved, Document No. E-VLDI-AA001-E, May 2014
controlled by a central
programmable logic controller
(PLC) is of key importance for
the overall plant performance.
It must be very precise –
otherwise the energy yield
will be below the optimum.
It also has to work reliably
under extreme conditions,
i.e., in heavy wind and dust.
Equally demanding is the fact
that the drives must make a
huge number of very small
movements in intervals of
seconds rather than minutes.
When Hine Renovables
designed the power packs for
the solar projects, it looked to
incorporate high-quality, costeffective components. As the
global supplier of hydraulic
products, Eaton was selected
to provide Hine with valves
and hoses to complement
its solar design.
Solution
”Our experience with Eaton has
been excellent with numerous
projects. It made sense to turn
to them again for our solar
power projects,” said Lander
Guibelalde, managing director of
Hine Renovables. “Hine
Renovables views Eaton as a
strategic partner that can
provide the necessary support
with the appropriate products
for the design of high-quality,
long-lasting, and competitive
tracking systems.”
Once contacted, Eaton provided
roughly 80,000 valves of various
types including the DG series
valve, counterbalance valves and
cartridge valves, which were
mainly produced in Great Britain
and Eaton® spiral and braided
hydraulic hose. Finally, for tube
fittings and connectors, Eaton
provided Hine Renovables with
its WALPro™ solutions from
Eaton’s Walterscheid® system.
“The latest solar tower project
is one of the biggest of its kind.
Eaton is proud to apply our
expertise and wide range of
products to ensure performance
of both projects,” said Pedro
López Jacoste, regional sales
manager, Eaton. “This project
was another that demonstrates
our strength of operating on a
global level with a wide range
of products, while working
with customers where they
need services and engineering
support. It’s a testament to
our ability to serve as a
‘one-stop-shop’ for our
customers’ demanding
hydraulic applications.”
Eaton provided roughly 80,000 valves of various types including the
DG series valve, counterbalance valves and cartridge valves.
Eaton braided hydraulic hose.
Results
As a result of Eaton’s ability to
provide numerous high-quality,
cost-effective valves, hoses,
fittings and connectors, Hine
Renovables decided to use
Eaton hydraulic products for
two large South African solar
farms. The solar tower and
parabolic trough projects are
projected to generate a
combined capacity of 150 MW
as well as reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by an estimated
500,000 tons per year.
Eaton
Hydraulics Group USA
14615 Lone Oak Road
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
USA
Tel: 952-937-9800
Fax: 952-294-7722
www.eaton.com/hydraulics
© 2014 Eaton
All Rights Reserved
May 2014
For tube fittings and connectors, Eaton provided the WALPro solutions
from Eaton’s Walterscheid system.
Eaton
Hydraulics Group Europe
Route de la Longeraie 7
1110 Morges
Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0) 21 811 4600
Fax: +41 (0) 21 811 4601
Eaton
Hydraulics Group Asia Pacific
Eaton Building
No.7 Lane 280 Linhong Road
Changning District,
Shanghai 200335
China
Tel: (+86 21) 5200 0099
Fax: (+86 21) 2230 7240