NRG joins Brightsource on solar project
The majority of solar power projects developed to date have been photovoltaic systems, in which sunlight is turned into electricity using semiconductor materials in panels, but several large-scale solar thermal, or concentrated solar, projects are in development.
Thermal solar power stations like the Brightsource project use mirrors to concentrate sunlight on a fixed point to heat a liquid that produces steam to power a turbine.
NRG, which previously announced a partnership to develop thermal solar plants with eSolar, said construction on the 392-megawatt Ivanpah project in the Mojave Desert had begun and was expected to be in operation by mid-2013.
Ivanpah has received a $1.375 billion conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for a loan guarantee, and has obtained all permits and approvals from both federal and California state agencies.
Related News
Hydropower Plants to Support Solar and Wind Energy
LONDON - Hydropower plants can support solar and wind power, rather unpredictable by nature, in a climate-friendly manner. A new study in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability has now mapped the potential for such "solar-wind-water" strategies for West Africa: an important region where the power sector is still under development, and where generation capacity and power grids will be greatly expanded in the coming years. "Countries in West Africa therefore now have the opportunity to plan this expansion according to strategies that rely on modern, climate-friendly energy generation," says Sebastian Sterl, energy and climate scientist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and…
