Cubico acquires 100 MW of concentrated solar power (CSP) in Spain

Cubico Sustainable Investments (Cubico) has completed the acquisition of the remaining minority shareholding of Grupo T-Solar from MEAG. The deal makes Cubico the sole owner of the entire Grupo T-Solar platform, which comprises 274MW of operational assets and a significant development pipeline across Spain and Italy. The platform’s 47 operational assets include 167MW of solar …

Saudi Arabia is getting serious about green energy

The kingdom has high potential to capitalise on solar energy – photovoltaic technology and concentrated solar power technology – to drive its economic diversification agenda, new research from investment banking company Natixis shows. It also pointed to wind energy as a promising front as technological advancements make wind farms more economically viable. Saudi Arabia, under …

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Pitz-Paal receives Energy Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

IMAGE@DLR 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 …

CDC Group is investing $50 million in the Redstone Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project in South Africa

CDC Group is coming to South Africa to announce a direct investment in a sustainable development project. The British government’s financial institution is providing $50 million for the construction of the Redstone Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant. The project is being developed by Saudi Arabian company Acwa Power. The independent power producer (IPP) was awarded …

Dual-tower CSP plants: optical assessment and optimization with a novel cone-tracing model

Highlights • Dual-towers are 1.5 points more optically efficient than single-towers. • Tower selection algorithm enhances the field cosine factors by 3.5 points. • Spillage losses computed with a novel cone-tracing model. • Difference with SolTrace: 0.43% (spillage) and 0.84% (shading and blocking). • Optimized heliostat fields exceed the preliminary ones by up to 5.9 …

PwC Report Claims Concentrated Solar Power is Best for Nighttime Electricity Generation in Spain

Spanish solar thermal companies are present in more than three-quarters of the world’s projects, becoming a successful case of technology export in the category. In addition to new plants awarded by auctions to comply with the PNIEC (National Plan for Energy and Climate), there are possibilities to expand existing plants to have more night-time renewable …

Synhelion and Top Hydrogen Firm Advance Solar Hydrogen

DLR concentrated solar thermal test site at Jülich IMAGE@DLR 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 …

The cost of Concentrated Solar Power declined by 16%

The cost of renewables, meanwhile, continued to fall even in 2020, despite Covid-linked disruption. The cost of electricity from utility-scale solar PV declined by 7% year-on-year, while offshore wind fell by 9%, onshore wind 13% and concentrating solar power by 16%. Solar PV and onshore wind power are now consistently cheaper than fossil fuel-powered plants, …

“Solar Power Around the Clock” report released by the German Association for Concentrated Solar Power (DCSP)

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 …

Concentrated solar power might just revolutionize the energy sector as we know it

When most people think of solar power, they picture rows and rows of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of a building. But photovoltaic power is terribly inefficient — the mining and refining of the elements required for daily human life are incredibly costly to the environment. Fortunately, there are much greener ways to harness …