Edison gets approval for solar plants
KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA - Edison International received state approval to go ahead with a contract with a local solar energy startup for new solar power plants in Kern County.
The California Public Utilities Commission approved the 20-year contract between Rosemead-based Edison and eSolar Inc., a Pasadena-based renewable energy start-up financed by Google.org, Idealab and Oak Investment Partners. The contract calls for Edison to purchase up to 245 megawatts of electricity from solar power plants built by eSolar in the northern Antelope Valley.
The power plants will use mirrors to focus sunlight on towers containing water. The water is heated and turned into steam, which powers turbines and generates electricity.
The first of these solar power plants is set to come online in early 2012.
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Project examines potential for Europe's power grid to increase HVDC Technology
PARIS - A partnership of 14 leading European energy industry companies, research organizations and universities has launched a new project to identify opportunities to increase integration of HVDC technology into the European transmission system.
The HVDC-WISE project, in which the University of Strathclyde is the UK’s only academic partner, is supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme.
The project’s goal is to develop a toolkit for grid developers to evaluate the grid’s performance under extreme conditions and to plan systems to realise the full range of potential benefits from deep integration of HVDC technology into the European transmission system.
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