Techno-Economic Feasibility of Parabolic Trough Solar Steam for Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery

Abstract

This study rigorously evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of parabolic-trough collector (PTC) for thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR) by benchmarking it against conventional diesel-fired boiler steam supply across geographically diverse thermal- OR fields. Site-specific direct normal irradiance data from NREL’s NSRDB are used to characterize the solar resource and size the collector aperture area. Techno-economic calculations and scenario evaluation are conducted using HOMER Pro, while the proposed PTC configuration includes thermal energy storage with an equivalent duration of 6 h/day and is assessed under a representative capacity factor of 0.6, reflecting partial coverage of steam-load demand. A harmonized levelized cost of energy (LCOE) framework is applied to both configurations under consistent financial assumptions to enable an apples-to-apples comparison. Results show that boiler-based LCOE is strongly driven by local diesel pricing and heat-duty requirements the Netherlands (NLD) exhibits the highest boiler LCOE, whereas Venezuela (VEN1) yields the lowest. A second Venezuelan case (VEN2) produces an anomalously high boiler LCOE around 4.5, attributable to an exceptionally large reported heat duty; it is therefore treated as an outlier with elevated uncertainty. PTC investment inputs are parameterized using NREL benchmark unit costs 24.375 SAR/kW installation, 712.5 SAR/m² solar field, and 93.75 SAR/kWh thermal storage. Beyond cost competitiveness, solar steam substitution provides a credible pathway for fuel displacement and associated CO₂ mitigation; reported solar-EOR deployments indicate annual CO₂ reductions ranging from 104 to 636,720 tCO₂/year, depending on plant scale.