Abstract
Following the commitment of the State of California to have a mix of at least 20 per cent electricity from renewable energy sources by the year 2017, a lot of new power plants based on renewable energy sources are being set up in the state of California. This project looks at the various parameters involved in setting up a solar-biomass power plant in central California region. The choice of the place comes from the fact that it has a favorable weather and abundant ranches and farmlands within the region which
can easily supply the required fuel for Biomass Power. This project report describes the design aspects of such a combined cycle power plant which operates both on Biomass and Solar thermal energy. The design is application based as well as based on other designs being used in similar power plants. The report first explores the usage of electricity and requirement of non-polluting energy sources, then goes on to explain the types of solar and biomass based designs being used and finally exploring the design aspects of the proposed combined power plant. In the end, the economic aspects of generation of biomass electricity is explained along with sample calculations for a year-round cost of operation on the first year basis.