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SolarReserve

Chile Gives Go-ahead To South America’s Largest Solar Power Project

written by saurabh

Chile has given green light to the construction of the largest solar power project in South America.

According to media reports, SolarReserve has received go-ahead for construction of a 450 megawatts concentrated solar power project. The project shall use solar power tower technology and will be located in Chile’s Tarapacá region.

The approval for construction came after the Environmental Evaluation Service issued an environmental qualification resolution. The project will consist of three power towers of 150 megawatt capacity each with 13 hours of full load energy storage.

The project is expected to generate over 2,600 GWh of electricity every year which will power around 800,000 households in Chile. The project will also make significant contribution to the country’s economy. Around 1,200 jobs are expected to be created from the construction and operation of the project while 40-60% of the equipment to be used in the project will be manufactured in Chile.

Once commissioned the project will overtake the 292 megawatts solar PV power project being construction by Enel Green Power In Brazil to become the largest solar power project in South America.

Chile has seen a remarkable growth in solar power development of the last few months. Last year Chile achieved 1 GW of installed solar power capacity with several major project developers, including Acciona, Enel Green Power, Pattern Energy, EDF and Marubeni, and SunPower, which are working on large-scale solar power projects.

And although the Chilean Congress approved the Electricity Transmission Act which will establish a new interconnected transmission network shall be established, alongside a new independent operator, the fact that the SolarReserve project has 13-hour storage capacity gives it a crucial competitive edge over other projects.

03/13/2017 0 comment

Renewable Energy

South African Utility Eskom Refuses To Sign 100 MW CSP Deal

written by saurabh

Eskom has landed the first blow to the South African renewable energy market.

SolarReserve-backed concentrated solar power project of 100 MW capacity will not be able to inject power into the grid thanks to a refusal by Eskom to sign a 20-year power purchase agreement with the project.

The decision not to signed the PPA spells doom for the project which represents R50 billion (US$3.8 billion) in investment.

The refusal to sign PPA comes days after Eskom openly stated that it will no longer sign PPAs with any renewable energy projects. The utility stated that there was excess renewable energy going into the grid which has also increased the cost of power.

SolarReserve had won the rights to develop the project through competitive auctions under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme. The 100 MW project was secured at a tariff of US¢12.4/kWh. The project also has 12-hour storage facility based on molten salts.

In the past, Eskom has expressed difficulty in absorption of the rapidly increasing renewable energy capacity in the country due to transmission capacity constraints. The utility recently secured funding to strengthen power grid. The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced a $1.34 billion loan to South African utility Eskom for the expansion and strengthening of its transmission network.

The refusal to sign a PPA has also raised doubts about the future of the REIPPP programme. Last year, the Minister of Energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, announced that she would approach the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) to make arrangements to offer an additional 6.3 GW in future auctions.

08/16/2016 0 comment

Articles Renewable Energy

SolarReserve And China’s Shenhua Group Sign 1 GW Solar Thermal Power Storage Deal

written by saurabh

China’s Shenhua Group has made a major announcement with regards to development of solar thermal power projects in China.

Shenhua Group will work with US-based SolarReserve to set up 1 GW of solar thermal power projects enabled with storage facility. The agreement is aimed at supplying the grid with 100% renewable energy baseload.

Storage solutions for renewable energy projects in China is critical as the capacity is being added at a much faster pace compared to the growth in transmission capacity infrastructure. Every year China comes out with report stating that a substantial amount of electricity generated from wind energy projects was wasted due to absence of transmission infrastructure. Most of these projects are in remote areas with significantly high wind energy resources.

Solar power capacity, which is being added at a record rate every year in China, may face a similar problem. While storage solutions for solar photovoltaic power and wind energy projects on a large-scale remains untested and very costly, that is not the case in case of solar thermal power projects.

If China has to achieve its very ambitious renewable energy capacity targets it must work on multiple fronts of distributed renewable energy projects, expansion of transmission grids and energy storage solutions.

Storage through oils and salts is common among solar thermal power projects around the world. Most recent examples being in South Africa where projects are supplying electricity throughout the day, and night!

05/14/2016 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Breakthrough Facility to Trap Solar Energy in Molten Salt

written by Walter Wang

One of the greatest problems of large scale solar power facilities is that they do not produce electricity at night, and when they do produce power, it is constantly fluctuating with the sun’s strength. Under development in the deserts of Tonopah, Nevada is a new technology that will effectively store solar energy

01/04/2012 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Chinese Firm Enters U.S. Market to Build Solar Power Plants

written by Solar Calfinder

In Hong Kong, China, the name GCL means solar energy. So it wasn’t surprising when GCL subsidiary, Poly Energy Holdings Ltd., a world-leading polysilicon and wafer supplier, announced the formation of a joint venture (jv) with Los Angeles solar star SolarReserve, a design/build solar energy firm, to build solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the United States.

11/22/2010 1 comment