100-Gigawatt-Hour Crushed-Rock Heat Storage for Concentrated Solar Power and Nuclear

A very large-scale long duration energy storage (LDES) idea from MIT envisages a 1 kilometer-long, 60 meter-wide lidded central storage container of rocks sunk 20 meters down into the ground – about the size of 10 football fields if they were laid end to end. The idea is that it could store energy from up …

Dubai bets on a future more ‘solar’ and low in carbon emissions

With the emergence of ‘renewable technologies’, many hope to reverse the impact of climate change, with initiatives such as the Mohammed BinRashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, located in the desert south of Dubai. It is the largest solar park in the world. It is equipped with millions of photovoltaic panels, capable of converting the sun’s …

“7 MW solar heat plants will be a commodity in Europe in 5 to 10 years”

Viessmann, a major German provider of climate solutions for living spaces, strengthened its project development team last year, hiring Christian Stadler and four of his ex-colleagues in June 2020, after their former employer, Danish-based Arcon-Sunmark, stopped operation. As part of Viessmann, Stadler and his team are now responding to district developers and utilities’ rising interest …

Chile’s Cerro Dominador Concentrated Solar Power plant synced with the grid

The 110-MW Cerro Dominador concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Chile has been successfully synchronised with the Chilean SEN grid system. The solar thermal plant will inject electricity into the grid in stages over the coming months. “Synchronization kicks off first phase. We then move on to the second phase, which is calibration of the …

Australia-US thermal storage technology progresses to demonstration phase

Next-generation solar thermal energy storage technology developed in partnership with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative (ASTRI) has reached a major milestone, with the United States Department of Energy announcing it will fund commercial-scale testing. The technology, which has been produced with input from CSIRO, the Australian National University and the University of Adelaide, converts …

Cubico makes 100 MW concentrated solar power acquisition

Cubico Sustainable Investments has completed the acquisition of Grupo T-Solar, a 274MW solar platform with assets across Spain and Italy, from I Squared Capital. Cubico has also acquired the minority shareholding of KKR in Grupo T-Solar’s Spanish photovoltaic assets. The integration of the platform, which has a total enterprise value of approximately €1.5bn into Cubico’s …