Morocco kicks off construction of 160 MW solar thermal project

Morocco has officially commenced the construction of a 160-megawatt concentrated solar power plant near the desert city of Ouarzazate. The 7 billion dirhams ($817.55 million) project is expected to become the world’s largest solar facility of its kind when finished by 2015, surpassing the 100 MW Shams 1 solar thermal plant in the United Arab Emirates (see related story). A consortium led by Saudi...

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M.E.N.A. countries get $660 million for revised regional C.S.P. plan

Countries from the Middle East and North Africa are getting $660 million to proceed with an updated solar plan for the region. Under the Clean Investment Fund’s Clean Technology Fund, the M.E.N.A. countries of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia will receive financial support for an extensive plan to create 1,120 megawatts of clean energy from concentrated solar power. The endowment is expected to...

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Sunlight + natural gas: Lower emissions for power sector

Combining solar power and natural gas could reduce greenhouse gas emissions of power plants, while producing power that is cost competitive with conventional fossil fuel power. A new system being developed at the United States Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory uses concentrating solar power to help convert natural gas into syngas, which can be burned for electricity...

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Abengoa, BrightSource to build 500 MW solar towers in California

Abengoa and BrightSource Energy have signed an agreement to jointly develop, build and operate the world’s two largest solar power towers in California. As partners, the two companies will work together to permit and finance the 500-megawatt Palen Electric Generating System, consisting of two 250 MW solar towers located at the Department of Interior Solar Energy Zone in Riverside County. The project will...

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World’s largest concentrated solar power plant launched in U.A.E.

The world’s largest concentrated solar power plant is now open in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. Shams 1 is a 100-megawatt solar thermal facility commissioned by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, together with French energy company Total and Spain’s energy infrastructure company Abengoa Solar. Spread across a land area equivalent to 285 football fields, the $600 million solar project is...

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CSP with thermal storage adds value, helps utilities meet energy demands – NREL

A concentrating solar power installation with a six-hour storage capacity can add $35.80 per megawatt hour to the capacity and operational value of a utility, finds the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. “We’ve known for a long time that CSP with storage adds significant value, however, we are now able to quantify this value in the language utilities understand,”...

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Spain, U.S. seen dominating solar thermal market – GBI

With both countries having the presence of factors like increasing costs of fossil fuels, supportive government policies, and favorable weather, Spain and the United States are seen dominating the global solar thermal market. According to a report by GBI Research, Spain has so far the largest market share for concentrated solar power, covering 65 percent of total installed capacity at 1,002 megawatts in 2011.

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Rare earths pose no threat for CSP – but silver does

There’s one renewable energy technology that might just withstand the export restrictions that China is imposing on vital renewables component rare earth metals, according to a report from Sweden-based Chalmers University of Technology – concentrating solar power. “The prospects for strong growth for CSP over the next few decades seem good,” says Dr. Erik Pihl, lead author.

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Largest CPV power plant in Italy ready for clean energy production

French manufacturer of semiconductor materials Soitec finished construction and grid connection for the largest concentrator photovoltaic solar power plant in Italy, a 1.17-megawatt facility in Sicily. Located in Belpasso municipality in the Catania province, the facility is expected to generate enough clean power for 300 homes and offset 125 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

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$125 million invested in Solana solar thermal project in Arizona

Abengoa took in an additional $125 million in investment for its 280-megawatt Solana concentrating solar power plant in Arizona. The investment comes from Capital Riesgo Global, a subsidiary of Spanish banking group Banco Santander. In return it will have an equity stake in the project.

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