CSP tower Articles
-
Khi Solar, Upington South Africa - Case Study
Near the city of Upington in South Africa´s North Cape Province, you will find South Africa´s first central tower plant plant. This 50 MW project, with several new groundbreaking technologies, is also the first plant equipped with Rioglass´ new heliostat mirror facet technology. A new integrated product with optimized characteristics helping to further develop the CSP tower ...
-
CSP Solar Tower Report: Cost, Performance & Key Trends 2013
Plan, measure and optimize your involvement and profitability in Solar Tower CSP by utilizing the most up-to-date, comprehensive and hard to access cost and performance data. With Solar Tower’s growing market share set to alter the CSP technological landscape and claims that it could represent CSP’s most viable route towards grid-parity mounting, the eyes of the industry are ...
-
Palen – a look back in time
Over the past year we have documented the trials and tribulations of 500 MW Palen project as developers fought to achieve the necessary permitting that would allow grid synchronization by 2016. By Jenny Muirhead After a number of setbacks it looked like the developers were finally on track. However, on 26 September 2014 Palen Solar Holdings (which consists of BrightSource Energy and ...
-
Stellio heliostat set to cut CSP tower costs by 20%
A new heliostat modeled on South African data is using a pentagonal reflector design, innovative construction techniques and smart software to boost the cost efficiency of tower plants. Heliostat fields typically contribute about 50% of the capital investment for CSP tower plants, according to a study by SBP Sonne, the German engineering firm which has developed the Stellio heliostat design. ...
-
China beam-down CSP pioneer predicts 30% cost reduction
The developer of the world's first commercial beam-down CSP plant predicts a four-fold hike in thermal efficiency for a larger 200 MW plant. As CSP developers seek new ways to cut costs, a new 50 MW beam-down tower plant in China will provide valuable insights into an emerging CSP technology. Developed by BCP Solar Technology (known in China as Xinchen Solar), the RMB 1.8 billion ($255 ...
-
Capex of modular CSP plants could halve if 1 GW deployed
Soon to complete its first full-scale module in Morocco, CSP developer 247Solar predicts series build gains could reduce capex to $3,000/kWe and sees advantages for industrial energy supply. Last month, 247Solar announced it will build its first fully-operational demonstration Brayton cycle CSP plant module at the Ouarzazate solar park in central Morocco. Due online in the first half of ...
-
Fire halts construction at Chile`s first CSP tower; US channels $30 million into CSP research
Fire stops building work at Cerro Dominador in Chile A fire broke out Tuesday at the 110 MW Cerro Dominador CSP project, currently under construction in Chile's Atacama desert, the developer said on Twitter. The fire was spotted at 20:00 local time Tuesday at the top of the 250-meter receiver tower, development company Cerro Dominador, a subsidiary of EIG Global Energy Partners, said. By ...
-
Bill Gates-backed CSP group hits 1,000° C; Terraform buys more Spanish CSP plants
US CSP group surpasses 1,000° C using greater reflector accuracy U.S. CSP technology start-up Heliogen has achieved temperatures exceeding 1,000° C by improving the reflectiveness of CSP tower arrays, the company announced November 19. Heliogen's technology uses cameras and advanced computer vision software to align heliostats more accurately and increase solar efficiency. Backed by ...
-
CSP cloud cameras set to cut sun block losses
Cutting-edge camera technology and irradiation forecasts could increase CSP revenues by several percentage points and boost competitiveness in key China and Middle East markets, researchers say. Advances in sky camera systems are set to drive up CSP efficiency in the coming years. In November, U.S. technology developer Heliogen hit CSP tower temperatures of over 1,000° C by using cameras ...
-
Chile CSP pioneer signs PPA with Copec; Silicon storage to replace Aurora CSP project
Cerro Dominador signs PPA with Copec energy group Cerro Dominador, Latin America's first CSP plant, has signed a five-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Chilean fuel distributor Copec, Cerro Dominador, a subsidiary of EIG Global Energy Partners, said December 11. Located on a 146-hectare site in the Atacama desert, the 110 MW Cerro Dominador plant will enter commercial operations this ...
-
Noor Midelt winner optimizes CSP trough, storage to hit record price
An EDF-led group has won the Noor Midelt I project in Morocco with an integrated parabolic trough CSP-PV design which uses multiple energy storage types in a new efficiency breakthrough, TSK, the project's EPC and technology supplier, told New Energy Update. On May 21, Morocco awarded the Noor Midelt I CSP-PV project to a consortium led by France's EDF at a new record low price of 68 ...
-
CSP power-heat costs could drop 50% on stable policy support
Industrial power and heat developers are adapting designs to minimize construction costs and shorten payback periods and greater financing support could see costs fall by a half, industry experts told New Energy Update. Falling technology costs and growing carbon reduction objectives have spurred industrial companies to turn towards renewable energy solutions. A number of CSP developers ...
-
Cerro Dominador CSP developer plans larger plants in Chile
The ground-breaking 110 MW Cerro Dominador CSP plant could start commissioning by end of 2019 and the fund-owned developer is studying larger projects at three other sites in northern Chile, Francisco Vizcaino, Project Director at Cerro Dominador, told New Energy Update. After a troubled start, Latin America's first utility-scale CSP plant is now in the final stages of construction. Located ...
-
Centrifugal CSP could offer siting breakthroughs, $60/MWh power
A new ceramic particle CSP receiver soon to be tested in the U.S. could lower the cost of energy by up to 20% and accelerate industrial heat deployment through particle transport innovations, Reiner Buck, Head of Solar Tower Systems at German Aerospace Centre (DLR), told New Energy Update. Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy allocated $750,000 of funding to Sandia National Laboratories ...
-
Italy: the next CSP hotspot?
Italy could potentially have a booming CSP market, thanks to high DNI levels in the southern parts of the country and in the main islands of Sardinia and Sicily – where one of the newest CSP plants, the 50 MW Mazara, is being built. Feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) for CSP generation and industrial needs for process heat should make the market even more attractive. So why aren't developers flocking ...
-
Some surprising facts about Ivanpah
Ivanpah, the world’s largest power tower CSP project, seems to attract a lot of controversy. Along with that, it brings up concerns about its operations. CSP Today has received some interesting questions amounting to ‘Has something gone wrong? Is Ivanpah not really working?’ By Susan Kraemer In such novel technology built at such scale, it is perhaps not surprising that there ...
-
Designing renewable contracts that value CSP storage
As California ramps up its storage requirements, it has not included Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) with integrated energy storage. Instead it is testing pilot projects using batteries at utility-scale, even though it must be obvious to bean counters at utilities that batteries are never going to compete with utility scale CSP storage. By Susan Kraemer The 32 MWh battery storage pilot for ...
-
The progress of the SunShot Initiative examined at CSP Today USA 2013
CSP Today USA 2013 (26-27 June, Las vegas) will host exclusive SunShot Initiative roundtables to share the latest R&D aimed at driving down CSP costs and optimizing system efficiency. Since the U.S. Department of Energy launched its Sunshot Initiative in February 2011 the program has funded over 150 projects focused on the research and development of Photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar ...
-
South Africa Update – DOE confirms players for Window 3.5
After months of waiting, South Africa’s Department of Energy has finally announced the financial close of Window 3 and the preferred bidders for Window 3.5. By Jenny Muirhead The DOE released a statement on 12 December 2014 outlining the outcomes of both Window 3 and the CSP-specific Window 3.5 under its Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP). ...
-
Vast Solar in talks with Australian mining groups for first CSP plant
Modular CSP developer Vast Solar sees Australia's mining sector as the greatest deployment opportunity before wind and PV growth creates wholesale market openings, Craig Wood, CEO of Vast Solar, told New Energy Update. Vast Solar's quest to build Australia's first large-scale CSP plant could soon be boosted by new offtake contracts with the mining sector. The developer is currently in talks ...
Need help finding the right suppliers? Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you