$30 million in DOE funding for solar thermal fuel, heat, or storage

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) announced the Solar-thermal Fuels and Thermal Energy Storage Via Concentrated Solar-thermal Energy funding opportunity, which will award $30 million for projects to produce fuels via renewable energy resources and improve thermal energy storage technologies. Read More …

Israel

Latest Online:2019 Ashalim 230 MW tower and trough CSP SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on the Ashalim CSP project that combines tower  (Ashalim/Megalim 121 MW) and trough (Ashalim/Negev 110 MW) CSP with thermal energy storage in molten salts. . Earliest Online: BrightSource SEDC 6 MW Read More …

Published at Chemistry of Materials – Synthesis and Structural Study of Substituted Ternary Nitrides for Ammonia Production

Abstract: Over the past few decades, inorganic nitride materials have grown in importance in part due to their potential as catalysts for the synthesis of NH3, a key ingredient in fertilizer and precursor to industrial chemicals. Of particular interest are the ternary (ABN) or higher-order Read More …

Sandia’s green ammonia research matters for a global shipping future

Green ammonia could be made sustainably using solar thermochemistry instead of the way it is made today in the fossil-fueled Haber-Bosch process, which taps fossil energy for the thermochemistry and the heat and the high pressure it requires, while emitting almost three tons of CO2 Read More …

Australian mining to decarbonize with GlassPoint’s solar steam

Ten years ago, GlassPoint CEO Rod MacGregor bucked the typical business plan for solar developers, both PV and CSP (How CSP works): Sign an electricity contract with an electric utility to sell your solar power by the kilowatt-hour for 25 years and try to get Read More …

Published at Applied Energy – Market profitability of CSP-biomass hybrid power plants: Towards a firm supply of renewable energy

Abstract: CSP-biomass hybrid power plants are promising options for displacing electricity from flexible fossil systems and increasing the share of dispatchable renewable energy in power grids. However, they are investment-intensive technologies whose competitiveness in electricity markets is still uncertain. This paper explores for the first Read More …

Saudi CSP giant ACWA Power now shelving coal power

[ED: ACWA Power’s CSP projects, developed in whole or in part include Bokpoort and Redstone in South Africa, parts of DEWA in Dubai and NOOR I,II and III in Morocco. It has consistently broken current CSP prices with new record low prices, and broken week-long Read More …

US DOE funds Synhelion to scale up its solar thermal hydrogen

Solar hydrogen is a component of the thermochemical solar fuels that Synhelion is developing commercially, such as aviation fuel The solar thermal green hydrogen technology beginning to be commercialized by Synhelion has now received a nod from the US DOE with funding announced today: Press Read More …

Published at Solar Compass – Pathways to the use of concentrated solar heat for high temperature industrial processes

Abstract: New analysis is presented identifying strong potential for Concentrating Solar Thermal technology (CST) to be a cost-effective contributor to future sources of net zero-emissions, high temperature industrial process heat relative to other emerging options. Nevertheless, significant further development of the technology is needed to Read More …

DOE announces 7 awards to cut heliostat costs

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Sandia National Laboratories, co-leads of the Heliostat Consortium, announced seven awardees from a request for proposals (RFP) aimed at achieving DOE’s goals for heliostat cost reduction, sustained multifaceted innovation, and improved solar field performance. Heliostats Read More …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Clean Tech investment challenge in commercializing innovations like HELIOtube

HELIOVIS has been running a demo plant in Spain for two years demonstrating their novel low-cost blow-up plastic tube solar collector for CSP. The small startup is fighting hard to get the industry-scale financial backing needed to introduce the technology and to make commercial sales. Read More …

Bill Gates Funds A Second Concentrated Solar Thermal Startup: Heliogen

Building on R&D from IDEALAB, Bill Gates has now invested in his second CSP-based start-up after Malta, with Heliogen. Press Release; Singular scientific achievement takes place at Heliogen’s commercial facility in Lancaster, California PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Heliogen, the clean energy company that is transforming sunlight to Read More …

Rebirth of SolarReserve’s 450 MW Likana Brings CSP Supply Chain Hope for Chile

This week, the Cerro Dominador Group/EIG Global Energy Partners bought the Likana Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project from US-based SolarReserve, which was unable to complete the project. SolarReserve had already developed Likana by accomplishing the preliminary work of siting and monitoring local DNI and taking Read More …

Solar steam could heat MENA Region industries for less

“But even though the costs, the lifetime returns, and the speedy pay-back proved so competitive, during the three year study, Cuadros found that small and medium businesses were loathe to actually purchase and own novel technology.” Only the deep pockets of the oil industry or Read More …

China to Finance and Shanghai Electric to Build CSP for ACWA Power’s 950MW Dubai Solar Plant

EPC Contract with Shanghai Electric to Develop 700 MW DEWA CSP Project Signed in China ACWA Power Apr 15, 2018 DEWA and ACWA Power, in collaboration with Shanghai Electric, will undertake the 700 MW CSP portion of the 950 MW solar project in Dubai. Together Read More …

Climate Policy that Actually Works: How Morocco is Meeting its Clean Energy Goals

An interview reveals Morocco’s secret: MASEN (the Moroccan Agency for Sustainable Energy) is actually a renewable energy “one stop shop” – starting with climate policy, through needs assessment, planning, infrastructure development and finally structuring to mobilize project finance. Read More …

China’s Shouhang and CNLNPC to Invest $2.3 Billion (USD) in CSP

CSP Plaza is reporting: Beijing Shouhang IHW Resources Saving Technology Co., Ltd. just signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement on Jointly Developing CSP Business with CNNP Liaoning Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. (CNLNPC). In the announcement posted late night the same day the agreement is signed, Shouhang cites to Read More …

How Port Augusta Got the World’s Cheapest Solar Thermal Power

Most coverage of SolarReserve’s 150 MW Aurora solar thermal power plant in Port Augusta completely overlooked its biggest news: the South Australian Government just bought the world’s cheapest solar thermal energy. Just 6 cents per kilowatt hour. SolarReserve will sell solar thermal energy to the Read More …

USA

Latest Online: 2015 Crescent Dunes: 110 MW SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project 110 MW Crescent Dunes, tower CSP with 10 hours of storage, operational 2015-2019, and since 2021 Latest CSP in Development Sandia Gen-3 Particle-based CSP Research by the DOE has resulted Read More …

South Africa

Latest in Construction: 2023 Redstone Tower CSP: 100 MW SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project All CSP Projects: SolarPACES-NREL database – All projects in South Africa CSP Potential South Africa’s first solar tower plant: 50 MW Khi Solar 1 operational since early 2016 Read More …

Morocco

Latest Online: 2018 Ouarzazate NOOR I,II and III: 550 MW SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project: NOOR I, NOOR II, and NOOR III Earliest Online: ISCC 20 MW inaugurated in 2013: Ain Beni Mathur CSP Potential Country data Morocco has set a target Read More …

Australia

Latest in Development: 2023 Vast Solar 30 MW CST (solar fuels production) Latest Online: 2016 Sundrop Farms 36 MW CST: SolarPACES-NREL database: All plant details on this CSP project The Sundrop project uses tower CSP for onsite greenhouse agricultural production since 2016. CSP for electricity Read More …