Long Duration Energy Storage gets New R&D Lab in Biden’s DOE

MIT proposal for Long Duration Thermal Energy Storage in 2,400°C Molten Silicon is among many long-duration grid-scale energy storage ideas being researched due to the low cost of thermal energy storage – about 1/10th that of batteries Source: Energy Storage News A US$75 million national research and development (R&D) facility for energy storage is expected …

Concentrated Solar Power build pipeline must hit “GWs” to fend off PV menace

A lack of supportive tenders is endangering the Concentrated Solar Power industry’s quest for lower costs and its leading position in overnight renewable power, a team of researchers told Reuters Events. As PV and battery costs continue to fall, CSP developers face increasing competition in the dispatchable power market. Only a handful of CSP projects …

Could a Perovskite make Cheaper Solar Hydrogen?

A perovskite may be more cost-effective than ceria for solar-driven thermochemical hydrogen production, a new paper suggests. One perovskite formulation that works at a slightly lower temperature than ceria is explored by Xin Qian in the paper Outstanding Properties and Performance of CaTi0.5Mn0.5O3–d for Solar-Driven Thermochemical Hydrogen Production in research funded by the US Department of …

EuroTrough Helped Cut Ramp-Up Time of China’s 100 MW Urat Concentrated Solar Power


Solar Field – HTF – Power Block Commissioning Since September to December 2020, commissioning of Urat Solar Field – HTF – Power block was performed, achieving 100% of steam turbine load while operating close to the winter solstice. The key factors to reach such a reduced schedule were the following: Engineering Phase: Basic Engineering review …

Super Mirror Concentrated Solar Power Plant in Gansu, NW China

The molten-salt concentrated solar power plant is located in Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu Province. The 100MW power plant, also called the “super mirror power plant”, works by using 12,000 mirrors that concentrate the sunlight onto a receiver at the top of a solar tower, which then heats the molten salt. It is designed to generate …

ENGIE acquires 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power plant in South Africa

ENGIE (www.ENGIE-Africa.com) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement to acquire from Abengoa a 40% equity stake in Xina Solar One, a 100 MW Concentrated Solar plant, as well as 46% of the Operations & Maintenance Company. The plant is equipped with parabolic trough technology and a molten salt storage system that …

Aalborg CSP Can Retrofit Coal Plants into Thermal Energy Storage

Aalborg CSP’s steam generation system for the 600 MW DEWA CSP project in Dubai Researchers at DLR, and NREL, and the Bill Gates-funded start-up Malta have been investigating converting coal plants into grid-scale thermal energy storage for curtailed intermittent renewable energy, as low-cost heat “batteries.” Conversion would repurpose most of a coal plant’s assets. Instead …

Hybrid PV – Concentrated Solar Power has a lower LCOE than gas in Chile

Researchers from the Center for Solar Energy Technologies of Fraunhofer Chile have conducted a comparative analysis which shows that the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE ) in Chile can be achieved by a combination of large scale PV and concentrated solar power (CSP). The Cerro Dominador PV-CSP project in Chile. Image: Ministerio de Bienes …

Saudi Arabia shines a light on future of concentrated solar power

A Saudi developer’s plan to harness the sun 24/7 is sparking a renewable energy revolution in the region. ACWA Power is the main developer on the Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Solar Park. Saudi Arabia is embracing a new, more efficient way to harness solar power for electricity, inspired by its role as the main developer …

DEWA announces winning tender for world’s largest solar project

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced the winning tender for the fourth phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site concentrated solar power project in the world. DEWA awarded the tender to a consortium of Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric, which bid the lowest …