China begins to move toward concentrating solar thermal power through plants with 2-GW capacity
California’s ESolar and China-based Penglai Electric have agreed to develop the solar thermal plants over the next 10 years. Photo by ESolar
China begins to move toward concentrating solar thermal power generation through a series of solar thermal power plants with a total capacity of 2 gigawatts, the largest of its kind in the country.
California’s ESolar and China-based Penglai Electric have agreed to develop the solar thermal plants over the next 10 years. In total, the plants will eliminate 15 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Penglai plans to build the solar facilities using ESolar’s technology alongside biomass electricity generation facilities. China Huadian Engineering Company will manage construction while China Shaanxi Yulin Huayang New Energy Comapny will own and operate the initial solar plants. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed
Groundbreaking of the first 92 megawatts will take place in 2010 at the 170 square kilometer Yulin Alternative Energy Park in the Mongolian desert in northern China.
The company’s power plants use fields of mirrors called heliostats to focus the sun’s rays on a water-filled receiver that sits atop a tower. The intense heat vaporizes the water to produce high-pressure steam to drive a turbine.
The country is currently the market leader in photovoltaic manufacturing. The government recently announced aggressive plans to increase the country’s renewable power generation capacity to 15 percent by 2020.
– Oliver M. Bayani
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