[Ed: the novel STELLIO heliostats seen here, and used in this Hami Tower CSP project, won the SolarPACES Innovation Award for 2015] MASERMIC and SBP Sonne have completed the commissioning of the 50MW HAMI tower solar plant located in CHINA, XINJIANG province. It is based on the STELLIO heliostat solar field technology. The solar plant […]
Tower CSP needs talented engineers in optics, robotics and AI to advance heliostat technology and cut costs.
Abstract: High-temperature thermochemical energy storage materials with high energy density is the key technical support for the third generation concentrated solar power plants equipped with advanced energy storage system. CuO/Cu2O redox couple is one of the most promising systems due to its low cost and high energy density, but its application is limited by poor […]
Summary: Developing solar technologies for producing carbon-neutral aviation fuels has become a global energy challenge, but their readiness level has largely been limited to laboratory-scale studies. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of a fully integrated thermochemical production chain from H2O and CO2 to kerosene using concentrated solar energy in a solar tower configuration. The […]
Comparison study of thermoclinic heat storage tanks using different liquid metals for concentrated solar power Abstract: Liquid metals are good potential heat transfer materials for thermoclinic heat storage (THS) systems and will play an important role in the next generation solar thermal power system with higher operating temperature. This paper presents a comparative research […]
Fraunhofer-Chile finds a solar combo (PV-CSP hybrid) generates the same flexible energy as gas, at lower LCOE
Abstract: Recently, green hydrogen production via solar thermochemical water splitting (STWS) as a clean and sustainable method is becoming a subject of interest to many researchers. Great efforts are being made to develop materials for STWS with suitable operating conditions, low cost, and good cycling stability. In this context, the study of mixed cobalt and […]
Abstract: Leveraging solar thermal energy to drive the chemical looping reforming of methane (CLRM) is a promising method of efficiently and selectively reforming methane to produce syngas using renewable energy. In this work, the role of catalytically active nickel in reaction kinetics, conversion, selectivity, and total syngas production during CLRM over Ni–CeO2 is investigated. Through thermogravimetric […]
Background: Concentrated solar thermal energy uses thermal energy storage. And China currently has 30 CSP projects under construction with thermal energy storage. Various options of energy storage are described in patented solutions in the field of solar energy. They include such technologies as those using latent heat, molten materials, compressed air, and chemical reactions. In […]
Solar energy record – 12 days, 24 hours a day In a solar energy record for round-the-clock power generation, Mongolia’s Wulate 100MW trough CSP project ran continuously for 12 days, generating pure solar energy without batteries; due to the thermal energy storage in CSP. (How Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) works). In a CSP plant, mirrors […]
SolarSteam was recently picked by Foresight Canada as one of the country’s most investable clean tech companies. The start-up uses concentrating solar thermal to produce hot water and steam for use by industrial and institutional clients that need to meet an initial 20% to 30% green energy target by 2030. “One of our recognitions was […]
1414 Degrees has reached a major milestone in the development of its SiBox Demonstration Module. Construction is almost complete, meaning that the company is now confident enough to move forward with the installation of its thermal energy storage media (silicon) and is expecting to be able to commission the demonstration module sometime shortly this […]
At the SolarPaces conference 2022, we created a group to support women working in the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) sector. Our goal is to attract and empower women at all levels to develop skills and expertise in the field of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and equip them to become leaders in accelerating the world’s energy […]
Abstract: Numerical modeling and simulation are necessary to design and optimize processes that include concentrating solar power (CSP) and industrial chemical processes; however, no co-simulation environment have been used or suggested in the literature for such plants. This paper suggests a promising approach to build a user-friendly simulation framework using open-source tools. DWSIM simulator was […]
Abstract: It is difficult to measure the concentrated solar radiation flux (CSRF) inside a cavity receiver directly due to the complex geometry of cavity receivers. At present, most reports measure the CSRF at the aperture plane (generally coinciding with the focal plane of solar concentrators) of the cavity receiver instead of at the absorber wall, […]
Abstract: High-temperature molten salt systems are employed in a wide variety of industrial applications, linked to energy production and storage, such as concentrated solar power, waste heat recovery, storage plants, fuel cells nuclear, etc. The reactivity of these salts is one of the main issues to address for the employment of affordable steels as […]
Abstract: This paper reports on the development of a hierarchical control strategy for a multi-generation solar plant. The plant includes a linear Fresnel reflector, an organic Rankine cycle, an absorption chiller, a thermal storage tank, circulation pumps, and valves. The hierarchical control strategy consists of three successive layers in addition to a wireless monitoring system. […]
Heliostat cost reduction is necessary to lower the cost of tower CSP. As many as 10,000 heliostats comprise the solar field.
Next year Solar Dynamics will demo a pilot project with solar thermal energy to dry biosolids to extract nitrogen to make fertilizer pellets
Read the full paper comparing Germany’s green industrial heat options at Science Direct Abstract This paper is based on a position paper of the German Industry Association Concentrated Solar Power e.V. to the German government and discusses options on how to decarbonize the heat demand of the domestic industry. Among other options, concentration solar collectors […]
With innovation in its core component – the volumetric absorber – the Open Volumetric Receiver (OVR) can reach 90% efficiency and beyond
The US DOE announces new 2023 solar technologies funding for early stage CSP/CST innovations
Published in the January Issue of Energy Conversion and Management Abstract The purpose of this paper is to study the performance of the steam methane reformer (SMR) using solar energy as a heat source using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. An analysis of the flow and heat transfer performance of scaled-up SMR with solar […]
Solar PV and CSP are the best suited renewables to drive MENA region synthetic fuel production potential at low cost
The solar furnace in Parkent, Uzbekistan will be used to recycle 50 tons of steel by the Swiss firm, Panatère in 2023
Source: El Pais (Google translated from French) Between the deposits of the road that leads to Rjim Maatoug, along the Algerian border and 120 kilometers from Kébili, in the south of Tunisia, only hydrocarbon tankers pass through in an incessant ballet. This area, where identical-looking towns are threaded together, bordered by a palm grove that […]
Liquid sodium heat transfer with magnesia thermal storage is ideally suited to high-temperature energy needs in industrial processes
The energy stored in 700 MW of Shanghai Electric’s trough tower CSP, once all units are operational, can generate power continuously for a maximum of 13.5 hours at night and 15 hours during periods of inclement weather. Source: Shanghai Electric for CSPFocus On November 29 (Dubai Time), the Trough Unit No. 1 facility of […]
20 MW Thermal Energy Storage Trials Hydroxide Molten Salt at the offshore energy island Bornholm Source: Recharge: Denmark’s ‘energy island’ of Bornholm is to host what is being claimed as “game changing” molten salts-based storage technology that its developer aims to deploy as a future large-scale source of renewable heat and power. Hyme Energy will […]
In Denmark, financing green district heat was not left to the whims of the market.
Source: Economia Digital The low price of the ministry and the uncertainty of connection delay the installation of a new solar thermal, which in 2025 should be double the current one according to the PNIEC. The generation of energy with solar thermal technology has been stuck for a decade in Spain. Not a single new […]
An assessment of the cost/benefit of each green heat technology is timely, as countries that were most heavily dependent on Russian gas must rapidly decarbonize heavy industry as gas supplies dwindle from over 40% to under 10% and rise in price from 20 to 140 euros per MWh. At the plenary of the 2022 SolarPACES […]
The average annual additional costs are ~0.62% of China’s GDP in 2020.
Email from CSP Focus China 2022, Nov 2&3 in Beijing The development of CSP is entering into a fast track in 2022 here in China. Within the Multi-Energy RE complexes combining with PV and/or Wind, CSP is playing a role as stabilizer and regulator, easing the power fluctuation and curtailment of PV and Wind, through […]
Press Release: Abengoa wins solar project of the year award for Noor 1 At Noor 1 Abengoa has been responsible for providing the technology, design, engineering of the HTF system, as well as the construction of the collectors for three parabolic trough plants (200 MW each) in the world’s largest solar complex: the Mohammed bin […]
“Our heliostat software works like human bodies work. We have eyes and eyes allow us to put our fingers in a very exact place with feedback.”
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 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released a new roadmap […]
Dr Avi Schultz Conference Chair Concentrating Solar Thermal Power Program Manager Solar Energy Technologies Office U.S. Department of Energy I’m excited to see you all in person in Albuquerque in less than two weeks, and launch the packed agenda we have for the SolarPACES conference. Kicking things off on Tuesday, September 27th, we’ll be welcomed […]
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 and thermoregulation pump of CGN New Energy Jilin 100MW CSP […]
Compared to other energy storage technologies, thermal energy storage has a huge advantage. It can be dropped-in to repurpose existing coal power plants by simply replacing the fuel, coal, with thermal energy storage to be charged with excess renewable energy from the grid, and discharged using nearly all of the components of the original […]
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 BA in Germany, Isabell Reisch chose to create an algorithm […]
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 demonstrated this on the multi-focus solar tower of the German […]
A “hot solar” tower fuel plant for thermochemical aviation fuel from H2O + CO2 is finally getting news coverage. What was your breakthrough?
A novel solar open air receiver is paired with a Brayton combined cycle power plant, combining these two technologies for the first time
[ED: All four projects follow China’s renewables scale-up plan of 1 GW renewables projects, where 100 MW of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is co-located with 900 MW of Photovoltaic (PV) in order to provide thermal energy storage, to extend the hours of solar generation past nightfall and to stabilize the grid in tandem as wind […]
(Montel) Spain plans to auction 520 MW of renewable energy capacity on 25 October amid its ongoing effort to curb carbon emissions. The auction will award 140 MW for photovoltaic projects below 5 MW, 220 MW for solar thermal, 140 MW for biomass and 20 MW for other technologies including biogas, bioliquids, hydropower or tidal […]
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 necessitates higher solar concentration ratios at MWth-scales that are only […]
July 18, 2022 Xinjiang: The Xinhua Power Generation Company held a groundbreaking ceremony, together with Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, celebrating the start of the firm’s 1 GW new solar energy project at Bozhou, located on the north side of G219 National Road west of Bole City at Aheqi Farm, Jinghe County in Xinjiang Province, China. […]
When SolarReserve proposed a 150 MW tower Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) power plant for Port Augusta, the firm was fresh off completing Crescent Dunes, the world’s first attempt at utility scale tower CSP with storage. The startup was unable to get funding to build the Port Augusta project, but it was fully developed: SolarReserve had […]
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, aiming to provide new solutions for decarbonizing power generation and […]
As of July 5, 2022, Cosin Solar’s pilot project the SUPCON Delingha 50MW Molten Salt Tower CSP Plant generated 755 MWh of electricity in a single day. With this latest single-day generating record, the plant has now achieved an annual record as well. In just 11 months, the plant has already generated its entire projected […]
In January this year, three of China’s provinces; Gansu, Qinghai and Jilin, already announced a combined total of 1.1 GW of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) projects for completion by 2024. These are already hiring EPCs and breaking ground. Now the province of Xinjiang has announced an additional 1.3 GW of CSP on its own, which […]
https://youtu.be/wdC5cXR-7M8 What is the current status of China’s CSP projects? Here Fengli Du of China Solar Thermal Alliance reveals the data on China’s CSP projects to date and underway in this webinar, hosted by SolarPACES Secretariat Christoph Richter, and now available online here. China has emerged as a key driver of the future of Concentrated […]
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: Fengli Du, Secretary of China Solar Thermal Alliance Q&A: Participants […]
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 China’s pilot projects back in 2016. But the developer failed […]
The Blue Book on China’s CSP Industry 2021 lays out current detail on the performance of the current Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) projects in China, and the scale-up plan as China increases its overall renewable energy percentage on the grid. The Blue Book includes very detailed information on the performance of all of the currently […]
Source: email from Sunny Sun; CSPFocus China Three Gorges New Energy has issued the bidding announcement on the EPC of two 100MW CSP projects, both are located in Qinghai province, northwest of China. According to the announcement (in Chinese), both projects are planned to start on July 1st 2022, and completed in full capacity by […]
Apply for the SolarPACES Awards The call for the prestigious SolarPACES Technology Innovation Award and the Lifetime Award is now open until July 31, 2022. The awards honor the personal engagement of individuals and institutions that significantly contribute to the deployment of CSP technology. Find all information on criteria, application process and award details here. Currently […]
[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 is used in such products as cars, computers, and cell […]
Replacing flexible gas before baseload coal is the EU’s new focus. This makes the case for the dispatchable solar; CSP much stronger.
Need for energy storage increases as China overshoots renewable deployment
Thermal energy storage is cheap but it’s expensive turning heat back into electricity. Rondo Energy instead proposes to sell the heat.
AIP, the American Institute of Physics, has published the SolarPACES 2020 conference proceedings, volume number 2445. (The 2020 SolarPACES Conference was held online during the pandemic.) All accepted papers are freely accessible on the AIP website and contain an ISBN number for the volume as well as individual DOI numbers for each paper. The proceedings […]
(From Utility Dive) Dive Brief: To help commercialize emerging energy storage that can power the grid for at least 10 hours, the Department of Energy has launched a $505 million four-year initiative. It aims to lower barriers to grid energy storage, and support small-scale, behind-the-meter pilots as well as large utility-scale demonstrations. DOE’s initiative, announced […]
Gearing up your company to capitalize on the utility-scale energy storage boom in the US A decarbonizing grid relying on variable renewable – solar PV and wind – for the lion’s share of the energy it integrates, will over time require energy services and increasingly rely on energy storage to maintain inertia and firmness. Whichever […]
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 national labs. While for now, batteries are sufficient, the need […]
Source: Green Car Congress 06 May 2022 Perovskite materials may hold the potential to play an important role in a process to produce hydrogen in a renewable manner, according to an analysis from scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Hydrogen has emerged as an important carrier to store energy generated by renewable resources, as a […]
Solar Energy Technologies Office SolarPACES Conference Abstract Deadline Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems (SolarPACES) is the premier international conference for concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) research and development. In 2022 it will be hosted by the United States, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Researchers who wish to present at the conference must submit an extended abstract […]
At any one time, almost 3 tons of hot sand would be in free fall for about 5 seconds hitting the pile beneath at 60 meters a second
By the middle of the 21st century the global energy system will hopefully be very different, with clean energy, clean fuels and clean heat supporting a highly decarbonized future. It will require so many changes in how we have done these things so far, that we can barely imagine such a different world today. One […]
New energy installed capacity, accounting for 70.2% of total installed capacity, will comprise 34 GW, with wind power comprising 27 GW, photovoltaic 6.5 GW, and CSP 250 MW. Source: China National Solar Thermal Alliance According to the news from the Hami Financial Media Center on March 12, with the implementation of the “Xinjiang Electric Power […]
Known then as Supcon Solar, Cosin Solar developed two tower projects in China’s pilot CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) program; as technology and core equipment provider on PowerChina Gonghe 50MW tower CSP, and developing the Supcon Delingha 50MW tower CSP. These were two of the five tower CSP demonstration projects that succeeded in China’s pilot program. […]
Cosin Solar (previously Supcon Solar) seemed to burst on the global Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) scene as a fully fledged Chinese CSP firm. Among China’s pilot projects, the Supcon Delingha 50 MW tower CSP with 7 hours of storage in Qinghai Province was among the few to succeed in China’s pilot program. The project reached […]
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 supply this year and beyond] Replace Russian supplies with gas […]
SolarPACES 2022: First Announcement and Call for Papers SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) is pleased to announce the SolarPACES 2022 conference to be held from September 26 – 30, 2022, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. SolarPACES is the premier international network advancing research, development, and commercial deployment of concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) and related technologies. After two […]
Alumina calcination is one industrial process that could be decarbonized using a 1000°C “hot solar” process
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% and 6% respectively. A key construction milestone, tower foundation for […]
Previous post: Botswana Looking for Bids for 200 MW of CSP Interested independent power producers (IPPs) have until April 11th, 2022 to apply for the pre-qualification process for the construction of two thermodynamic solar power plants in Botswana. Botswana’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security has issued a call for expressions of interest from […]
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 technologies. CSP technologies offer value as renewable energy resources that can […]
The SolarPACES Task IV:Solar Heat Integration in Industrial Processes advances international research into industrial processes requiring heat at up to about 500°C. But as solar research in processes requiring heat at up to 1,500°C is maturing, Task IV has now prepared Technology Briefs outlining the opportunities for very high temperature solar research for five industries […]
There aren’t many novel clean energy technologies that could also directly remove fossil energy plants. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created one. Long duration storage at grid scale is crucial to meeting climate targets. Solar PV and wind have the momentum to be a big part of the new energy economy, but […]
Namibia to follow Moroccan clean energy policy to cut CSP developer risk
The largest clean energy investor and developer in the world built the Three Gorges Dam China Three Gorges Renewables – the developer and builder of the 22.5 GW Three Gorges Dam in China – will develop three of China’s planned new 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) tower projects, two in China’s sunny Qinghai province, […]
Could giant coal and nuclear developers build CSP? In China, yes
High wind loads increase structural design costs of concentrating solar power (CSP) collector structures, such as heliostats and parabolic troughs. In a new two-year project, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will work with the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to conduct two comprehensive at-scale field measurements […]
Drone monitoring of solar fields is already established for photovoltaic solar. Now a new DLR spinoff – Volateq.de brings drone technology to the very different challenges of monitoring solar field performance, for concentrated solar power (CSP). “There’s a lot of lot of stuff that can go wrong in a CSP plant, components that can fail, […]
By making solar hydrogen as an industrial service for copper mining the scale is established for mass production
Yet another use for industrial solar heat – drying wastewater sludge – attracts study at six-minute solar collector maker Absolicon
Press Release: A consortium that comprises Vast Solar, CyD, Solar Dynamics, Alia Energy Consulting and Critical Engineering, has jointly developed Flexitank, a novel design for high temperature molten salt thermal energy storage tanks used in CSP and standalone thermal energy storage. The Flexitank solves a serious issue in the CSP industry. Due to the impacts […]
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 and CO2 with solar energy: The first synthesis of solar […]
At the 2021 SolarPACES Conference, NamPower generation projects head Grant Muller laid out the national power company’s now finalized plans for a CSP project in Namibia, for between 50 MW and 130 MW, with storage. After 4 years of preparations, it is ready for its first CSP auction in 2022. The small African nation has […]
Biomass gasification using steam and oxygen is an already mature technology for extracting hydrogen, which requires heat at above 700°C. To generate the heat for gasification, traditionally, some of the biomass itself is burnt. But this combustion emits several greenhouse gases, which can be quite high, depending on the carbon and hydrogen content of the […]
A pair of policy researchers at Potsdam University’s Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Germany have a suggestion for policy to advance high temperature Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) technologies. Today’s commercially operating Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is run at temperatures used in thermal electricity production and mid temperature industrial processes; 400°C to 600°C. But policy […]
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 there is a very high level of other renewables like […]
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 receive almost $33 million to research and develop CSP technologies that help […]
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 for CSP at under $34/MWh. How Cerro Dominador bid a […]
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 300 peer reviewed publications in international scientific journals, authored 10 […]
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 2030 thanks in part to $37 billion in government spending […]
Spain to launch a third renewable auction – to include Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) – before the end of 2021 October 4, 2021: The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge plans to launch a third renewable auction before the end of the year. According to the Secretary of State for Energy, Sara Aagesen, […]
DLR and CSP Services Win the SolarPACES 2021 Award for their Solar Flux Density Measurement System. New measuring system determines the flux density of receivers in solar tower power plants This year’s SolarPACES Technology Award goes to a team of researchers from the DLR Institute of Solar Research and CSP Services. The measurement method they […]
Have advances in heliostat mirror solar fields enabled record low prices in Morocco and Dubai and low bids like for Likana in Chile?
To expand internationally with its high temperature solar fuels, Synhelion now acquires high temperature solar field experts Heliokon
Out-of-this-world engineering challenges of manufacturing on the Moon hold promise for Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST)
Seramic Materials 100% recycled ceramic stores heat at temperatures up to 1250°C for thermal energy storage or high temperature CST processes
Source: CSP Focus A 3,300 MW solar project in Quinghai Province in China will combine both types of solar; PV and CSP with thermal energy storage, with total investment of 19.575 billion CNY (3 billion USD). The planned total installed capacity is 3.3GW, including 3GW PV, 300MW CSP (600 MW electric heating molten salt thermal […]
Direct solar heat – Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) – is a potential renewable resource for replacing heat from burning fossil fuels for industries like mining, as its technologies generate heat directly from sunlight at anywhere from 150°C to 1500°C. But lack of information on both sides stands in the way of CST being used for […]
Turbochargers were first used to amplify fossil fuel efficiency. Now they could turbocharge solar energy for 100% renewable industrial heat
The 27th SolarPACES conference is coming up on September 27 – October 01! We are excited to inform you that the program of this key event on Solar Power & Chemical Energy Systems is now available online. You will get excellent insight into the newest research and field results in more than 140 talks and 110 poster […]
The online registration is now available on the conference website. As you know, SolarPACES 2021 will be our second online conference, held from September 27 – October 01, 2021. SolarPACES 2020 revealed the many benefits of being online, with more of us able to share our work and participate from our home office, and we expect to make […]
High temperature CSP with very long duration storage in Bauxite particles can top off the 100% renewable grid says Sandia lead solar researcher Cliff Ho
Innovating new energy technologies is more akin to making a movie with a cast and crew of thousands than the stereotype of the one lone inventor in a garage coming up with the whole thing alone. An example is the US Department of Energy grant to try three different pathways to reduce the cost of […]
[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 challenges associated with the cost, performance or technical integration of […]
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 concentrated solar radiation to high-temperature industrial processes with a strong […]
What if the molten salts in the thermal energy storage tank could simply be heated directly by concentrated solar energy?
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 of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The award was established in 2005 […]
The ETH spin-off Synhelion is working on commercializing its very high-temperature solar thermochemical fuels (like jet fuel and hydrogen) and has already formed partnerships with several larger firms making cement or aviation fuel to advance step by step towards its goal of 100% carbon neutral fuels by 2030. The company’s latest collaboration is with Wood, […]
Since 2013, the German Association for Concentrated Solar Power has been committed to the generation and use of electricity, heat and fuels from concentrated solar technologies. Its members cover the entire CSP value chain. This ranges from project development and planning, engineering services, component supply and system integration to the ownership and operation of solar […]
SolarPACES 2021: Abstract Submission extended until 22 June! As we have received several requests to extend the deadline for abstract submission, we are providing an extension until Tuesday, June 22nd, 2021! Your scientific or technical abstract (PDF, max 2 pages) should be submitted electronically and provide suitable information to allow the significance and quality of your […]
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 replace fossil fuels, today announced that it has raised $108 million in […]
How does a solar thermal power plant work? How can solar thermal power plants contribute to security of supply? What role do solar thermal power plants play in an energy system based on renewable energy sources? What skills are required to build and operate solar thermal power plants? Which factors support an accelerated proliferation of […]
SHANGHAI, June 11, 2021 /PRNewswire Shanghai Electric announced positive results of the first molten salt tank hydro test for the Parabolic Trough Plant-II which forms part of the 1GW Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. The test was carried out on May 9, and its success laid a crucial foundation for the next phase […]
SolarPACES interviewed Bernard Geldenhuys, the Senior Transactor in the Power and Infrastructure team at Investec Bank, a lender with 8,300 employees that has been closely involved in the 100 MW Redstone solar power tower since 2018, when its delayed PPA was signed with Eskom, as the first commercial bank to support the transaction, providing senior […]
By 2050 Chile plans to be carbon neutral. A crucial part of that goal is the decarbonisation of its energy mix. To do this, all coal-fired power plants will stop operating by 2040. To deliver maximum benefit, two additional challenges must be met: replacing Chile’s energy currently produced by coal; and finding a use for the […]
By making solar hydrogen as an industrial service for copper mining, the scale is established for mass production
Ten years as a patent attorney with Exxon Mobil initially predisposed Gary Katz to see purification of “produced water” at oil wells as the market for the off-grid desalination startup he founded and bootstrapped in 2016, aiming to use the industry’s own wasted gas it flares onsite. “We realized there was a big need to […]
The DLR Institute of Solar Research will focus in the 24th Cologne Solar Colloquium on solar process heat from low temperature to high temperature applications. Speakers from research and industry partners will present current usage, future perspectives and will report on their experiences with existing systems. In the context of high temperature solar process heat […]
SolarPACES 2021 – First Announcement and Call for Papers September 27 – October 1, 2021 SolarPACES (Solar Power and Chemical Energy Systems) is pleased to announce the SolarPACES 2021 conference to be held from September 27 – October 1, 2021 as an online event. SolarPACES is the premier international network advancing research, development, and commercial deployment of concentrating solar-thermal power […]
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 May 2021: ACWA Power, a leading Saudi developer, investor and […]
Source: Sandia National Laboratories ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories recently used tethered balloons to collect samples of airborne dust particles to ensure the safety of a falling-particle receiver for concentrating solar power, an emerging solar power technology. (Photo by Randy Montoya) Click on the thumbnail for a high-resolution image. Researchers from […]
A very large-scale long duration energy storage (LDES) idea from MIT envisages a 1 kilometer-long, 60 meter-wide lidded central storage container of rocks sunk 20 meters down into the ground – about the size of 10 football fields if they were laid end to end. The idea is that it could store energy from up […]
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 new technology to the country is a great responsibility, that […]
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 and, in particular, long duration energy storage, as renewable energy […]
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 development (R&D) and help eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from the […]
The 2010 SolarPACES Lifetime Award Winner Professor Valeriano Ruiz passed away earlier this week. From SolarPACES we would like to express our sympathy and condolences to his family and friends. Professor Valeriano Ruiz was among the earliest pioneers of solar thermal technology in Spain beginning in the 1970s, including pioneering the teaching of solar concentrating technologies as Professor on Thermodynamics […]
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 hosted at the site including technology prototype testing chambers and […]
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 Thermochemical Hydrogen Production in research funded by the US Department of […]
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 it can alternatively be deployed “standalone” to store energy for […]
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 Solar Power (CSP) at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility […]
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 of the first round of the Chinese renewable energy demonstration […]
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 electricity from the grid by charging a “battery” of molten […]
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 molten salts with their working range between “cold” at 290°C […]
Under a new integrated resource plan published by the government in December 2020, Botswana plans to build 200 MW of CSP capacity by 2026. The procurement process will start this year, it said. The plan, which received the backing of Botswana and Namibia government officials and the World Bank, proposed a phased approach to large-scale […]
HelioHeat’s 1,000°C heat at just 1 Cent/kWh potentially ends the use of fossil energy for the production of steel, cement, food and chemicals
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. The company’s TES technology stores energy as heat in a […]
Research – and deployment – of low cost and sustainable energy storage technologies are crucial to the long term survival of humans
As a vital component of fertilizers, ammonia (NH3) is the second most-produced industrial chemical in the world. Annual production is around 180 million metric tons and almost 90% of this production goes to meet the global demand for agricultural production. Ammonia is also increasingly seen as a potential green fuel for power production and […]
Reuters: Saudi fund raises ownership stake in ACWA Power to 50% -statement CAIRO/DUBAI (Reuters) – The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, said on Thursday it has increased its stake in ACWA Power to 50% from 33.6% as part of a move to support the renewable energy sector in Saudi Arabia. ACWA […]
Synhelion will produce concentrated solar heat at 1500°C for the cement plant and receive highly concentrated CO2 to produce synthetic fuels
CSP uses thermal power blocks like coal plants, but the advantage is that sunlight is the “fuel” so solar can be stored for very long periods
Webinar: Retrofitting CSP projects to store and integrate variable renewable energy (VRE) in the grid 5 November at 12:00 CET (Check your local time) Spain’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan (PINEC) targets 74% of power from renewable sources by 2030, with more than 25GW of PV capacity expected to be added by that year. Hybrid […]
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