Susan Kraemer

From CSPPlaza: China’s power grid system has connected a new solar thermal power project. On the evening of 30th June, China’s first commercial-scale Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Delingha 50MW parabolic trough CSP station was successfully connected to the grid, achieving the milestone of grid connection. This means that the first […]

Source: RenewEconomy The world’s biggest solar tower power plant with molten salt storage has begun commissioning in Morocco, and is scheduled to begin production by October. The 150MW Noor Ouarzazate III solar receiver, with 7.5 hours of molten salt storage is only the second big scale project of its type, and trumps its predecessor in […]

China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) has announced that the deadline for the first batch of CSP demo projects can be extended to 2020, but with an electricity price reduction mechanism. On May 22, the NEA issued a notice, “Promoting the Construction of Solar Thermal Power Demonstration Projects”. The notice pointed out that the first batch […]

Source: Cerro Dominador May 18, 2018, Chile – Cerro Dominador, a Chilean company owned by investment funds managed by EIG Global Energy Partners (“EIG”), today announced the signing of the financing for its Solar Power Concentration (CSP) plant located in the Atacama desert, in Chile. This milestone will allow the company to complete the construction of […]

Source: CSPToday Design innovations and a favorable development framework should see Morocco hit its lowest prices for the hybrid PV-CSP Noor Midelt project and the country is joining global support schemes to diversify its funding supply, an official at the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (Masen), said. Managed by Masen, the renewable program supported the […]

Source: RenewEconomy.com US solar company SolarReserve has sought approval to add a 70MW solar PV farm to the world leading solar tower and molten salt storage facility proposed for Port Augusta in South Australia. The plans for the additional solar PV are revealed in a development application to the South Australia Planning Commission, submitted in […]

Source: heliocsp.com Abengoa will provide the technology and develop the engineering to the LuNeng Haixi 50 MW solar thermal tower plant project, in the Qinghai province. The company will also be responsible for providing the technology and engineering for the Royal Tech Yumen project for a 50 MW solar thermal parabolic trough plant to be […]

International Conference presented innovative solutions in mirror cleaning, cooling systems, simulations Source: https://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/129321_en.html Concentrated solar power (CSP) is a promising electricity generation technology full of growing potential. However, traditional wet-cooled CSP plants often consume a large amount of water which especially causes a challenge in arid areas where water resources are scarce. The International Conference on […]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) Global energy-related CO2 emissions grew by 1.4% in 2017, reaching a historic high of 32.5 gigatonnes (Gt), a resumption of growth after three years of global emissions remaining flat. The increase in CO2 emissions, however, was not universal. While most major economies saw a rise, some others experienced declines, including the United […]

Agreements opening the way for the construction of 27 renewable-energy independent power producer (IPP) projects, with a combined investment value of R56-billion and a combined capacity of 2 300 MW, were finally signed on Wednesday April 4, after a confidence-sapping delay of over two years. Read More …

Source: EurekAlert! The thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from power plants each year doesn’t have to go into the atmosphere. Researchers are optimistic that within the next decade we will be able to affordably capture CO2 waste and convert it into useful molecules for feedstock, biofuels, pharmaceuticals, or renewable fuels. On […]

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law by US Democrats in response to the international financial meltdown of 2008, offered the biggest boost for renewables since President Carter first funded solar research in the ’70s. Today, in a repudiation of funding slashes sought by both the majority Republican Party and his own administration, […]

From CSPToday: Libya’s Misurata Free Zone (MFZ) has signed a memorandum of understanding with consultancy iQ Power to develop integrated CSP and PV projects with up to 300 MW total capacity. MFZ, the first free trade zone established on Libyan territory, has shown its desire to develop a solar energy industry, according to a iQ […]

  Via RenewEconomy: Oz Minerals signed a landmark deal with US-based SolarReserve, the developer of the 150MW solar tower and molten salt storage projects near Port Augusta, to share part of the cost of a new 270km high voltage transmission line. It is believed to be the first deal of its type where costs are […]

From HelioCSP: According to Solargis, China has good potential to develop CSP industry in terms of solar resources, but with strong geographic diversification. Abundant direct normal irradiance is found in the Western regions of Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Gansu. Average annual DNI in these regions varies between 1700 and 2300 kWh/m2. For reliable […]

Acciona has reached an agreement to sell its five solar thermal plants in Spain (with a combined capacity of 250MW) to ContourGlobal plc. The transaction amounts to €1.09 billion, which could increase by €27 million, to €1.12 billion, if certain milestones are met. Once completed, the deal will enable the Acciona group to reduce debt […]

The engineering and technology group SENER and Acciona achieved the connection of the 100-MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant to the 132 kV ESKOM Distribution line on February 23, 2018. Main and auxiliary transformers have been energized which represents a relevant milestone for power plant commissioning activities. The Kathu Solar Park CSP Plant, which will supply […]

The 1,021 MWth solar thermal EOR project will generate 6,000 tons of solar steam each day, one gigawatt of solar thermal energy From Glasspoint: Fremont, California, February 12th, 2018 – Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman, and GlassPoint Solar, the leading supplier of solar energy to the […]

From Reuters: BEIJING, Jan 25 (Reuters) – China’s SPIC Shijiazhuang Dongfang Energy said on Thursday it plans to build a high-tech solar power plant in Inner Mongolia with capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW), which would be one of the largest of its kind in the world’s top solar market. The project would cost about 46 […]

  Report from CSPPLAZA: In 2017, global installed capacity of CSP totals 5133MW, representing an increase of 2.3% over 2016, according to statistics from CSPPLAZA research center. On the basis of 5017MW of 2016, the CSP installed capacity in 2017 showed only a slight increase for the reason that several projects haven’t put into operation, […]

Gulf Base reports: Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power, the power and desalination plant producer, could go public within the next two years, according to its CEO and President Paddy Padmanathan. ACWA, which has garnered a reputation for building renewable energy projects at record low prices, is looking for an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as […]

Renewable energy costs for the four main clean energy technologies is covered in an exhaustive new report from IRENA: Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2017. The cost trajectories for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), solar PV, onshore and offshore wind can be found in the full report which notes: “The sharp cost reductions for CSP, solar PV, onshore and […]

SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction Corporation, one of two EPCs involved in construction, (SENER, the EPS for Gemasolar is the other one) said that project synchronization to the grid of the first 10 MW of ACWA Power’s Noor II solar plant was accomplished successfully on January 10, 2018 at 16:52. Unit operating indicators were normal, marking […]

Morocco’s first operating CSP plant has shown that concentrating solar power can solve the problem of energy blackouts in the peak evening hours, a senior representative of the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy (MASEN) told the recent CSP Seville conference. The 160 MW Noor 1 parabolic trough power plant exceeded its objectives in year one […]

ADELAIDE, Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SolarReserve has received Development Approval for its Aurora Solar Energy Project, a key milestone required to build the landmark 150 megawatt solar thermal power station 30 kilometers north of Port Augusta. The approval process examined a range of critical elements including environmental, community, and social impacts of the Aurora project, which were assessed by […]

Renewable Hydrogen For Export Funding Round Deadline for submissions is February 28, 2018 Following a positive response to our recent Exporting Renewable Hydrogen RFI, we are opening an R&D funding round from 20 December 2017 to 5pm AEDT 28 February 2018. ARENA will be inviting a broad range of R&D applications, from early stage R&D […]

According to Power Technology, TuNur applied to the Tunisian Government to begin construction of their proposed 4.5GW concentrated solar power (CSP) project in the Sahara Desert at a price for power that is expected to be 8.73 cents per kilowatt hour, much lower than suggested three months ago. [Ed note: when SolarPACES interviewed TuNur CEO […]

Sign up for the Webinar from ATA: Morocco’s solar energy opportunities 22 Jan, 12:00 CET (Check your local time) Morocco is arguably the North African country that has made the most effort towards creating a national solar energy industry. Morocco has no fossil fuel reserves, so it is almost entirely reliant on imports. To mitigate this, […]

A new study from UC Davis; Land-Sparing Opportunities for Solar Energy Development in Agricultural Landscapes: A Case Study of the Great Central Valley, CA, United States calculates the potential energy generation from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and photovoltaics (PV) in terawatt hours (TWh) annually in California, by looking only at unwanted land within the Central […]

Source: CSP Focus: Abengoa has developed three solar thermal power plants for electricity generation in the north of the country. Xina Solar One -the last to be constructed- achieved practical completion back in August 2017, and has successfully completed its first three months of operation.  XiNa Solar One, the solar thermal parabolic trough plant that Abengoa has […]

ACWA Power South Africa Deputy Managing Director Nandu Bhula said that he had been personally assured at the Energy Indaba last week that all 27 contracts would be signed “in the next week” Read More …