FULL California Article with KHGT's Association in the Project
Weekly Intelligence Brief: August 16 - August 23 23 August 2010
CEC steps up solar project recommendations
This week's CSP Today news brief includes: California Energy Commission; Kalahari Greentech; SolarAg Systems; Genesis Solar and the Calico Solar Project; and SkyFuel & ReflecTech.
CEC steps up solar project recommendations
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has issued proposed decisions recommending the approval of more than 2,100 MW of solar power over the past month or so.
The list of projects includes Genesis Solar’s Genesis Solar Energy Project in Riverside County. For this project, a CEC committee recommended its approval last week.
The other projects that are recommended to be considered for a license to construct are the 250 MW Abengoa Mojave Solar Project; the 250 MW Beacon Solar Energy Project; the 1,000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project; and the 370 MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Project.
Details are as follows:
•Oakland, California-based BrightSource Energy would develop three solar thermal power plants near Ivanpah Dry Lake in San Bernardino County, California on public land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management in the Mojave Desert. If approved by the Commission, the project would begin construction in the fall of 2010. The proposed project would be constructed in three phases: one 120 MW phase and two 125 MW phases and is based on distributed power tower and heliostat mirror technology.
•Blythe Solar Power Project: The project is being jointly developed by Solar Millennium, LLC, and Chevron Energy Solutions. The project site is located in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, California, approximately two miles north of US Interstate 10 and eight miles west of Blythe. The project is a concentrated solar thermal electric generating facility with four adjacent, independent, and identical solar plants of 250MW nominal capacity each for a total capacity of 1,000 MW nominal.
•The Abengoa Mojave Solar Project is being proposed by Mojave Solar, a subsidiary of Abengoa Solar. The proposed project would implement parabolic trough technology and it would be located on 1,765 acres of mostly fallow agricultural land located in San Bernardino County halfway between Barstow and Kramer Junction, and nine miles northwest of Hinkley, California. If approved by the full Commission, the project would start construction in the fourth quarter of 2010, with commercial service by the first quarter of 2013. •Beacon Solar Energy Project in eastern Kern County: Beacon Solar would construct, own, and operate the proposed plant. The project would be located on approximately 2,012-acres in eastern Kern County on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, four miles from California City and 15 miles north of the town of Mojave. The project will use parabolic trough solar thermal technology. Image: BLM map of proposed large-scale solar facilities, courtesy of the California Energy Commission
Kalahari actions 'Tri-Brid' solar thermal generator
Baltimore, Maryland-based energy company Kalahari Greentech has begun development of its groundbreaking 'Tri-Brid' solar thermal generator. Kalahari’s solar collector operates three functions simultaneously to enhance system performance, earning it the “Tri-Brid” moniker.
The proprietary solar thermal Tri-Brid generator uses sun power to generate electricity. According to the company, its engineers are fabricating a production prototype to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology.
Kalahari, which designs, produces and provides wind turbines, solar collectors and other sustainable energy technologies, says its solar collector addresses the matters of collector and system efficiency to build a cost-effective system.
The three functions are as follows:
•Combination Thermo-Voltaic Collector: A reflector array focuses the energy from the sun to a specific area of the system, to concentrate and heat the closed-loop system. This essentially replaces the gas-fired boiler in a conventional power system. Variations on the base system are being developed to address different applications’ needs with a combination of traditional photovoltaic and thermo-voltaic generation.
•Efficient Turbine System: HFO-1234yf, one of the few refrigerants approved for use in the EU after 2010, will be used in a closed loop system to convert the solar collector’s power into usable energy.
•Thermal Conversion: When used in tandem with modern water based heating systems, the excess stored energy can be efficiently used in conjunction with a water storage system. The energy can also be used to create electricity directly, with future systems incorporating a direct thermo-electric generator to provide additional capacity during the hottest part of the day.
SolarAg to expand
Fort Recovery Construction & Equipment (FRCE) has decided to expand its SolarAg division.
SolarAg Systems, set up in late 2009 to develop and produce solar collectors and equipment, plans to invest US$1.9 million to renovate its 60,000 square-foot facility located at 1001 North Wayne St. to accommodate research, development and production of solar thermal collector panels.
The company will add up to 120 new jobs by 2013.
The company plans to begin hiring management, sales and production associates once facility upgrades are complete later this fall.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered SolarAg’s parent company FRCE up to US$535,000 in performance-based tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. FRCE designs agricultural buildings and equipment.
Genesis Solar Energy Project gets CEC recommendation
A California Energy Commission siting committee is recommending the approval of the planned Genesis Solar Energy Project in Riverside County.
The project is being is proposed by Genesis Solar, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources.
The committee said the proposed 250-MW facility, as mitigated, would have significant impacts on the environment. However, the benefits of the project would outweigh those impacts. According to the Commission, the proposed decision for the Genesis Solar Energy Project was based solely on the record of facts, which were established during the facility’s certification proceeding.
The committee released the document for 30 days of public comment and will consider input before bringing the proposed decision to the full five-member Commission. If approved by the full Commission, the project would start construction in the fourth quarter of 2010, with commercial service by the second quarter of 2013.
The project site is located in Riverside County, California, approximately 25 miles west of Blythe, on lands managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management in the Sonoran Desert.
Evidentiary hearing held for Calico Solar Project
The California Energy Commission, reviewing the proposed 850-MW Calico Solar Project in San Bernardino County, recently discussed a range of topics including cultural resources and traffic and transportation related to the project. An evidentiary hearing regarding the same was held last week.
Topics included cultural resources, traffic and transportation, biology, glint and glare, worker safety/fire protection, and soil and water.
The Calico Solar Project is being developed by Calico Solar, a subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based independent power company Tessera Solar, in San Bernardino County, California on approximately 6,275 acres of land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The project site is along Interstate 40 approximately 37 miles east of Barstow.
The construction work is planned to begin in late 2010, subject to project approval by the Commission.
The project’s name was formally changed to the Calico Solar Project earlier this year in January. The applicant, SES Solar Three was merged into SES Solar Six and that surviving entity was re-named Calico Solar.
In December 2008, Stirling Energy Systems Solar One (SES Solar Three and SES Solar Six) submitted an Application for Certification (AFC) to construct and operate the Stirling Energy Systems Solar One Project (SES Solar One), a solar dish Stirling systems project.
Executive moves at SkyFuel
Solar thermal power technology and service provider SkyFuel has promoted Alison Mason to the role of director of marketing communications.
The appointment comes at a stage when SkyFuel is scaling up its manufacturing processes to meet volume demand for its glass-free parabolic trough solar thermal collector SkyTrough.
Mason’s duties will include interaction with the media, industry, government, and academia to ensure that a “clear and accurate picture of SkyFuel is widely communicated”, stated the company.
Mason previously served as director of marketing for SkyFuel’s ReflecTech Division.
The company highlighted that during her time with ReflecTech, Mason worked in the same office as the SkyFuel R&D team. This provided her with opportunities to observe and learn about the development of the SkyTrough and other SkyFuel technologies.
ReflecTech’s mirror film is used in SkyFuel’s parabolic trough solar concentrator.
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