Solar heat to decarbonize industries gets $13 million boost from DOE

DOE Announces $24 Million Awards; $10.7 Million for Gen-3 CSP and $13.2 to Advance Concentrated Solar-Thermal Technologies for Industrial Decarbonization DOE also Releases Strategic Roadmap to Enhance Ability to Harness Solar Power, Lower Costs for Mirrors used in Concentrating Solar Power Plants WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Read More …

China seeks bids to build nine CSP plants

Source: CSPFocus September: Equipment Procurement Tenders- CGN New Energy Jilin 100MW CSP Project On September 2, Da’an Guangtou Zhongneng CSP Company issued a bidding announcement for the turbine generator set, steam generation system, solar concentration and heat collection system, cold salt pump, hot salt pump Read More …

BA student devises algorithm to optimize Tower CSP preheating strategy

Much of the research covered at SolarPACES in concentrated solar power (CSP) is advanced by international post-docs and professors, but as the need for climate solutions advances, it is drawing the attention of younger researchers with STEM backgrounds in mathematics, physics and chemistry. During her Read More …

Synhelion produces first solar syngas in Wood’s industrial-scale reforming reactor

Press Release: Paving the way for solar fuels: Jülich, Germany, August 18, 2022 Synhelion has become the first company in the world to succeed in producing syngas on an industrial scale using only solar heat as an energy source. The Swiss solar fuel pioneer successfully Read More …

Submit Particle-CSP Papers for Solar Energy’s Special Issue

Particle-based Solar Energy Capture and Storage for Concentrated Solar Power Particle-based solar thermal energy storage (TES) coupled to concentrated solar power (CSP) is an attractive pathway towards operating at elevated temperatures while extending electricity production beyond diurnal periods of on-sun operation. Operation at elevated temperatures Read More …

Rondo’s Thermal Storage to Decarbonize TITAN Cement

Press Release OAKLAND, Calif. – July 13, 2022 – TITAN Cement Group joins decarbonization and electrification investment leaders, Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Energy Impact Partners, in supporting Rondo Energy (“Rondo”) through its recent Series A financing round for the scale-up of its innovative “heat battery” technology, Read More …

Webinar: Presentation of Blue Book of China’s CSP Industry 2021

Zoom Webinar: Presentation of Blue Book of China’s CSP Industry 2021 Date and Time: June 27, 2022, 14:00-14:45 CEST (Central European Summer Time) Agenda: Opening: Christoph Richter, Executive Secretary SolarPACES Introductory Comments: Zhifeng Wang, Chairman of China Solar Thermal Alliance Presentation of Blue Book 2021: Read More …

Cosin Breaks Ground on 100 MW CSP and Thermal Storage in Gansu Province

Jinta County, Gansu Province: The Jinta Zhongguang Solar Energy 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project has broken ground, meeting the initial construction milestone by beginning concrete work for the receiver tower foundation. This 100MW CSP project was originally part of the first round of Read More …

1,500 MW of Glasspoint Solar Steam to Decarbonize Saudi Aluminum Production

[Ed: Their GlassPoint technology won the SolarPACES Technology Innovation Awardin 2016] From CSPFocus Saudi Arabia has signed an MOU with the California-based firm GlassPoint to build the world’s biggest solar thermal steam producing plant there. The facility will generate steam directly to make aluminum.  Aluminum Read More …

Will the US Demo Long-duration Energy Storage in Time?

In a new study from Sandia National Laboratories; The Value of Long-Duration Energy Storage: Policy and Perception, researchers have published details regarding policies pertaining to long-duration energy storage (LDES), including feedback from  around 500 stakeholders. Respondents included representatives from utilities, governments, industry, academia, non-profits, and Read More …

How Europe can Cut Natural Gas Imports from Russia significantly within a Year

IEA  provides 10-Point Plan to European Union for reducing reliance on Russian supplies by over a third while supporting European Green Deal, with emergency options to go further Download image Do not sign any new gas supply contracts with Russia. [Impact: Enables greater diversification of Read More …

ACWA Power’s Redstone CSP Draws Down Debt in 9th Month of Construction

Acwa Power’s Redstone project  construction is well underway  and is currently in its ninth month of construction, with commercial operation scheduled to start in Q4 2023. The engineering works for the project is over 58% completed, whereas procurement and construction works stand at over 45% Read More …

Info on SETO 2022 Funding for CSP/CST Technologies

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (CSP) Fiscal Year 2022 Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) funding program, which will award up to $25 million for innovative research and development projects in CSP technologies. These projects will accelerate the large-scale development and deployment of solar Read More …

“Sun-to-Liquids” Solar Fuels R&D Wins Recognition at Cop26

The Sun-to-Liquids project has been developed by a consortium integrated by the leading European solar research laboratories and CSP industry leaders: ETH Zurich, DLR, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, IMDEA Energy, HyGear Technology & Services B.V and Abengoa. The aim is to produce renewable transportation fuels from water Read More …

The Economics of Running CSP as a Capacity Resource in the 100% Renewable Future

A new paper to be published in the journal Energy Conversion and Management: X: Using Concentrating-Solar-Power Plants as Economic Carbon-Free Capacity Resources – develops an approach to assessing the capacity contribution from CSP plants with thermal energy storage in a future Southwestern US grid once Read More …

These 25 Advanced CSP & CST Technologies to Share $33 Million US DOE Funding

The Solar Energy Technologies Office Fiscal Year 2021 Photovoltaics and Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power Funding Program (SETO FY21 PV and CSP) funds research and development projects that advance PV and CSP to help eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector. On October 12, 2021, SETO announced that 40 projects were awarded $40 million. Twenty-five of those projects will Read More …

Why Likana’s 24-Hour Solar Bid under $34/MWh Lost in Chile

At the annual SolarPACES Conference (held virtually for the second year) Cerro Dominador’s CEO Fernando Gonzalez answered questions from the international network of concentrated solar power (CSP) researchers and developers attending about exactly what happened in the recent Chilean energy auctions with the record-low bid Read More …

SolarPACES Ex-Co elects Gilles Flamant and Wes Stein as next Chair and Vice Chair

At the 101st Ex-Co meeting held October 4th, 2021, PROMES-CNRS Research Director Gilles Flamant was elected as new Chair of the SolarPACES Executive Committee for the next 4-year term. Flamant is an internationally recognized expert in solar thermochemistry who holds 10 patents, has authored or co-authored approximately Read More …

IEA Report: Raise Investment and R&D to Reach Green Hydrogen Goal by 2050

IEA report calls for the development of national hydrogen strategies and roadmaps, new incentives for low-carbon hydrogen, and new certification requirements alongside increased research and infrastructure spending. Source: Utility Dive  Dive Brief: Global electrolyzer capacity for producing hydrogen could reach up to 89 GW by Read More …

RFP to Demo Long Duration Energy Storage Innovations

[This “only pre-commercial” and “over 6 hours” storage RFP would favor thermal energy storage concepts currently near commercial readiness.] The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is calling for project submissions to advance, develop or field-test energy storage technologies that can address Read More …

Submit Papers on Solar Thermochemical Innovations to “Energies” Special Issue by Sept 1

The scientific journal ‘Energies’ is arranging a Special Issue on ‘Solar Thermochemical Production of Material Commodities’ with a deadline for submissions on 1 September, 2021. We, as guest editors, are pleased to invite you to submit high-quality unpublished contributions on recent advances in applications of Read More …

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Pitz-Paal receives Energy Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Pitz-Paal receives Energy Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Robert Pitz-Paal, director at the Institute of Solar Research of the German Aerospace Center, has been named the 2021 recipient of the Frank Kreith Energy Award from the American Society Read More …

Bill Gates-backed CSP “Sunlight Refinery” Heliogen Raises $108 Million

HELIOGEN RAISES $108 MILLION TO ADVANCE NEW NON-INTERMITTENT RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY FOR HEAT, POWER, AND GREEN HYDROGEN Two funding rounds accelerate global deployment of Heliogen’s breakthrough AI-assisted concentrated solar thermal technology Press Release: PASADENA, California, June 15, 2021 – Heliogen, the renewable energy technology company unlocking the power of sunlight to Read More …

100 MW Redstone Solar with 12 Hours Daily Thermal Energy Storage Closes Financing

PRESS RELEASE ACWA Power has led South Africa’s largest renewable energy project Redstone CSP to financial close The ZAR 11.6 billion Redstone concentrated solar power (CSP) plant will power 200,000 households upon completion Commercial operation scheduled to start in Q4 2023 Johannesburg, South Africa, 10 Read More …

The Cerro Dominador CSP Project Has Synchronized to the Grid in Chile

Source: El Periódico de la Energía Ramon Roca 04/12/21 “We are proud of this new milestone in the development of our project. Having begun to deliver electricity to the National Electric System shows the reality and benefits of CSP technology. We know that the entry of a Read More …

For 100% Renewables, DOE Speeds-up Storage Policy

DOE workshops educate regulators on long duration energy storage (LDES) A Federal energy project funded through the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Electricity has initiated workshops designed to help state utility regulators determine best practices in policies to enable carbon-free energy storage technologies Read More …

New DOE Funding for CSP: Webinar April 12

Description On March 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) Fiscal Year 2021 Photovoltaics and Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (FY21 PV and CSP) funding program, which will provide $39.5 million for projects that will advance solar PV and CSP research and Read More …

Long Duration Energy Storage gets New R&D Lab in Biden’s DOE

Source: Energy Storage News A US$75 million national research and development (R&D) facility for energy storage is expected to be up and running by 2025, the US Department of Energy (DOE) said yesterday. Called the Grid Storage Launchpad (GSL), 30 separate research laboratories will be Read More …

Could a Perovskite make Cheaper Solar Hydrogen?

A perovskite may be more cost-effective than ceria for solar-driven thermochemical hydrogen production, a new paper suggests. One perovskite formulation that works at a slightly lower temperature than ceria is explored by Xin Qian in the paper Outstanding Properties and Performance of CaTi0.5Mn0.5O3–d for Solar-Driven Read More …

Aalborg CSP to Retrofit Coal Plants into Thermal Energy Storage

Researchers at DLR, and NREL, and the Bill Gates-funded start-up Malta have been investigating converting coal plants into grid-scale thermal energy storage for curtailed intermittent renewable energy, as low-cost heat “batteries.” (Thermal energy storage was originally developed as storage for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), but Read More …

March 1 Deadline for Sandia R&D Funding Awards for CSP Technologies

Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility launches R&D Voucher Program to further Concentrating Solar Power technologies January 29, 2021 9:21 pmPublished by Kelly Sullivan Sandia National Laboratories is currently seeking applications from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and individuals to further technologies related to Concentrating Read More …

EuroTrough Helped Cut Ramp-Up Time of China’s 100 MW Urat Trough CSP

Press Release: schlaich bergermann partner (sbp)  The German solar engineering consultancy schlaich bergermann partner (sbp) supplied the EuroTrough solar collector for the 100MW Urat CSP project in Inner Mongolia, the largest commercial parabolic trough project in China. The Urat project was developed and realized as part Read More …

MIT Proposes PV to Discharge Energy from 2,400°C Silicon Thermal Storage

The MIT team estimates their thermal “battery” designed for long duration – 100 hours or more – would be half the cost of today’s cheapest grid-scale energy storage; pumped hydro. A very intriguing idea for long-duration gigawatt-scale grid thermal energy storage proposes to store renewable Read More …

First-of-its-Kind Experiment with Liquid Metals in Thermocline Energy Storage at Karlsruhe

One of the ways to cut costs in thermal energy storage, whether standalone or as part of tower Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is to use heat transfer fluids able to reach higher temperatures, and with a wider working range between hot and cold than today’s Read More …

Long-duration Thermal Energy Storage Startup Azelio Wins First Commercial Order

Swedish startup Azelio will see its long-duration Thermal Energy Storage (TES) technology used at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Complex (MBR) in Dubai, UAE. Recycled aluminium alloy is used as a phase change material to store heat which is then converted to electricity. Read More …

In South Africa and Spain, CSP is Meeting or Exceeding Projected Operation Targets

South Africa’s Bokpoort performance has been “reliably excellent” SolarPACES spoke with Nandu Bhula who has been with the team responsible for the success of ACWA Power’s 50 MW Bokpoort trough Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in South Africa since the start, first as CEO while Read More …

US DOE Announces Quarterfinalists in $9 Million Solar Desalination Prize

The American-Made Challenges: Solar Desalination Prize is a four-stage, $9 million prize competition, providing an additional $1 million in support, designed to accelerate the development of low-cost desalination systems that use solar-thermal power to produce clean water from salt water. Competitors will receive cash prizes Read More …

Solar Heat for Cleaning Wastewater and Recovering Clean Water

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology is being successfully applied to treat wastewater effectively and do so while driving down costs and lower carbon emissions. Source: Rioglass Wastewater treatment is an increasingly complex and resource intensive process. Many operators of wastewater processing plants have been looking Read More …

Australian Researchers Assess the Commercial Viability of Solar Alumina Calcining

Commercializing alumina refining using solar heat Approximately 27% of Australia’s industrial carbon emissions come from alumina refineries, in which fossil fuels are burned to heat the processes. But concentrated solar thermal (CST) could provide up to half of the heat needed. Australian researchers have for Read More …

World’s First Utility-Scale Molten Salt Fresnel CSP Plant Connects to China’s Grid

The China Dunhuang Dacheng 50MW molten salt linear Fresnel CSP project plant has now officially begun commercial operation on June 19, 2020. To celebrate the occasion of commercial operation of the first ever molten salt Fresnel CSP occasion, the developers and contractors held a commissioning Read More …

Making Solar Hydrogen with a Side of Carbon Nanotubes

Two teams of solar researchers have developed a novel solar reactor and thermochemical process for making solar hydrogen that can generate in addition carbon black and graphite as well as carbon nanotubes. Working over a six-year period, the teams first developed the specific solar reactor, Read More …

California Looks for Long-Duration Renewable Energy Storage Contracts for 2026

  An optimal power system portfolio for the US state of California that would drive the world’s fifth largest economy towards greenhouse gas reduction goals for 2030 and then to zero carbon by 2040, includes 1GW of long duration energy storage, an analyst has highlighted. Read More …