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A concentrated solar heat (CSH) system installed in Italy next year will bring a new high-temperature technology to industrial heating. A group of European companies will build a pilot ceramic particle concentrated solar tower plant at a pasta factory owned by Barilla in Foggia. The ‘HiFlex’ plant will use centrifugal solar technology developed by the …
Continue reading “Solar tower at pasta plant spurs new generator design”
Heliogen wins US funding for high-temperature CSP plant The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded concentrated solar developer Heliogen $39 million to build and operate a 5 MW CSP plant with supercritical CO2 (sCO2) power cycle and thermal energy storage. Heliogen will commit $31.1 million to the project, the DOE announced November 12. The …
Continue reading “US to build 5 MW sCO2 CSP plant; Spain backs global tower insulation standards”
247Solar Inc., a spinoff of MIT, along with microturbine supplier Capstone Turbine Corporation, today announced the successful test of a revolutionary commercial turbine that can generate electricity using hot air at atmospheric pressure, without combustion. This breakthrough is made possible by an ultra-high temperature heat exchanger with technology that has its origins at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The 247Solar Heat Exchanger uses a proprietary nickel-chromium-aluminum-iron alloy engineered for sustained operation at very high temperatures. For its size, the heat exchanger is the most compact and materials-efficient in …
Continue reading “Innovative heat exchanger eliminates need for combustion”
Startup founded by serial entrepreneur Bill Gross seeks to revitalize Concentrated Solar Power with sCO2 technology that lowers costs, water usage, equipment size and plant footprint — and supports industrial applications in which PV may not be able to compete. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is betting big on supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) as …
Continue reading “Concentrated Solar Power startup Heliogen scores $39 million in DOE funding”
The Andalusian company Refractaris, based in Montemayor, has proposed a new international standard for thermal insulation for concentrating solar power plants for study and approval. This standard will facilitate the minimum standardization required in thermal insulation of solar thermal power plants in the world and will strengthen their development possibilities in the coming years. The …
The future of thermodynamic solar energy in Italy starts from Sicily, where it was “ideally” born with the burning mirrors of Archimedes from Syracuse. Thanks to the alliance between ENEA and the Italian industry, in fact, the first plant built in Italy that integrates concentrated solar power with photovoltaics will soon be inaugurated in Partanna …
Continue reading “ENEA alliance and industry for two new concentrated solar power plants in Sicily”
The operation records show that the highest molten salt temperature at the outlet of the receiver reached 565℃, and the maximum output power of the turbine generator reached 50.12MW. All subsystems were running stably. This project is co-invested by HYDROCHINA and POWERCHINA Northwest Engineering Co., Ltd (PCNWE), and constructed by PCNWE (EPC contractor). SUPCON SOLAR …
Continue reading “POWERCHINA Gonghe 50 MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant Reached Full-load”
After steam turbine overhaul，the plant was recovered to full load operation on October 9, 2020. As of 24:00 on November 8, the total monthly output reached 18.4 GWh, which refreshed prior record in Feb, 2020 (17.17GWh), and exceeded average designed output by 6.23GWh (The plant is designed to generate 146GWh/y, i.e. 12.17GWh/month). This year, the …
Solar thermal was the emblem of the take-off of renewables in Andalusia and the great international commitment of companies such as Abengoa, Sener or TSK. The cut that the Government of Rajoy had to apply in the premiums of renewables in 2012 – when Spain was on the verge of the rescue – short-circuited its …