Chinese power plant produces round-the-clock electricity with combined solar power and biomass
By Karl Go
Shandong Penglai Electric will manufacture the majority of eSolar’s equipment, as well as manage the construction of the plant. Photo by eSolar
A 2,000-megawatt concentrating solar power plant borne by a United States-China partnership will soon produce round-the-clock energy with the integration of biomass energy to the primary generation technology.
Located in Yulin, Shaanxi province, the solar thermal plant is the first of its kind in China and shows cost-effective technologies that could serve as a role model for future solar development worldwide.
The joint venture’s solar thermal plant collects solar energy through fields of mirrors called heliostats, which focus the sun’s rays on a water-filled receiver. The plant, also called concentrating solar power technology, then generates power from the turbines which use high-pressure steam created by the vaporization of water.
But the plant will also use biomass energy from adjacent biomass facilities, allowing electricity generation even at night.
California-based eSolar and Shandong Penglai Electrical Power expect the first 92 MW to be running by the end of 2011. The rest of the solar thermal plant is scheduled for completion by 2020.
Raed Sherif, vice president of international market development of eSolar, said the modular design of the plant offered higher efficiency and fundamental cost reductions in construction and design, which lowers the overall cost of the plant by about half of other solar thermal facilities.
Eric Wang, Penglai Electric senior vice president of international business development, said China’s manufacturing strength, along with eSolar’s unique design, would significantly reduce installation and solar field equipment costs which are usually the two largest expenditures for building a solar power plant.
The joint project, which married solar and biofuel technologies, could eventually allow solar to compete with other renewable energy sources without government subsidies, Mr. Sherif added.
Shandong Penglai Electric will manufacture the majority of eSolar’s equipment, as well as manage the construction of the plant.
Both companies will share intellectual rights to any innovations developed during their collaboration in China.
China is currently the market leader in photovoltaic manufacturing and is a large exporter of solar power equipment. The government has set a target of increasing renewable energy by 15 percent by 2020.
|
Related Stories |
||