http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/technology/nevadas-110-mw-crescent-dunes-solar-project-goes-fully-online-162871/
[images in on-line article]
Nevada’s 110 megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar project now fully online
Thermal solar plant uses thousands of heliostats, molten salt solar
energy tower to produce energy 24 hours a day
SANTA MONICA, Calif.—Jutting out of the rocky waste of the Great Basin
Desert outside Tonopah, Nev., a 640-foot (195-metre) molten salt solar
tower— circled by a series of more than 10,000 heliostat mirrors—is now
pumping 110 megawatts of clean energy into the western state’s
electricity grid.
SolarReserve’s Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, which began testing
its generation capabilities last fall after construction was completed,
has now reached full commercial production. The complex is the world’s
first utility-scale project that incorporates an integrated energy
storage system allowing it to continue creating clean power 24 hours a day.
“Crescent Dunes shows what the Silver State can accomplish with clean
energy when we are serious about competing for investment in the global
growth industry of the 21st century,” Harry Reid, the senior U.S.
senator for Nev., said. “Nevada will benefit for decades as engineers
and experts from around the world come to Tonopah to see what is
possible when the public and private sectors come together to build the
next generation of clean energy technology.”
Crescent Dunes produces energy by focusing the sun’s thermal energy on
the approximately 640-foot molten salt tower receiver at the centre of
the complex.
Coursing through the tower is solar-heated molten salt, which flows
through the tower’s two receiver circuits at a rate of about 5,800
gallons (about 22,000 litres) per minute. Inside the tower, the salts
are heated from 550 F (288 C) to 1050 F (566 C). The scalding salt
produces steam in the facility’s storage tank, which is used generate
electricity.
After the sun goes down, the salt retains sufficient heat for up to 10
hours, allowing it to continue producing power. Following significant
testing, and now full operational results, the company says the solar
tower and molten salt heat transfer system is performing in excess of
initial expectations.
As engineers have finalized the operations of the Crescent Dunes
project, SolarReserve has begun pursuing opportunities to employ the
same technology around the world, saying the system has the potential to
produce the same consistent, on-demand power as coal or natural gas
plants, with none of the emissions. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based
company also expects the climate goals set down at the COP21 Conference
last year in Paris will help it build its market share overseas.
“The climate deal unveiled in Paris has the potential to catalyze a
global energy transformation. It will further accelerate implementation
of renewables around the world, including within emerging markets such
as Africa, Latin America and Asia,” Kevin Smith, SolarReserve’s CEO,
said. “As renewable energy penetration grows, the need for
cost-effective, utility-scale renewable generation with storage
technology is becoming increasingly important for mitigating
intermittency problems, delivering power into peak demand periods and
supporting transmission system reliability.”
SolarReserve has already secured a 100 MW project scheduled to begin
construction in South Africa this year, as well as a 260 MW Chilean
solar project that has received preliminary approvals from the South
American country’s government. The company is actively pursuing
opportunities in China and other solar energy growth markets as well.
Meanwhile, having reached commercial operation at Crescent Dunes,
SolarReserve has begun fulfilling its obligations under a 25-year Power
Purchase Agreement with Nevada’s largest electric utility, NV Energy.
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