The intermittency of wind and solar PV electricity generation, in combination with the high cost of electricity storage options, means the world still relies on fossil fuels for the majority of its base-load and peak electricity demand. Concentrated solar power (CSP) solves this issue by integrating cheap, durable, and long-lasting thermal energy storage, which can be used to generate electricity after the sun has gone down.

Odqa, a venture backed engineering spin-out from the University of Oxford, turns up the heat on CSP with its proprietary aerospace heat capture system, which increases the operating temperature of the receiver tower, unlocks the use of high temperature cycles in the power block, and raises the power output by up to 100%. This increase in power output significantly reduces the price of electricity produced, making it cost-competitive with all other forms of dispatchable power.

With the numerous advantages that Odqa's CSP design offers, a scale-down to a mini-grid 1-10MW is now a possibility and provides an opportunity for sub-saharan African countries with high solar energy resource to electrify remote towns suffering from energy poverty.

The project funded by this grant would be a feasibility study assessing the viability of scaling down our new CSP system for use as a 1-10MW mini-grid in a currently un-electrified part of Namibia.

The outcome of this study would be a system design and detailed analysis of costs for a 1-10MW mini-grid system providing heat and electricity, and the potential impact of electrification and job creation provided by local industries and as a result of building CSP plants on poor households in the region. This study would then be used for a mid-stage application to construct a pilot plant in the region.

The project would also investigate the possibility of using the heat produced from the process for a desalination plant to increase access to clean water.

Finally, Odqa hopes that this feasibility study could be used as evidence that CSP technology is more economical even for rural areas and thus encourage the Namibian government to invest in alternatives to PV while benefiting from the country's massive solar resource.