Company
Solar Power Plants for Nevada
Cleveland, 2009-03-10
MAN Ferrostaal and its joint venture partner Solar Millennium plan to cooperate with NV Energy, a large energy provider from Nevada, in developing solarthermal powerplants together.
For this reason, the US subsidiary Solar Millennium LLC, which has its head office in California, MAN Ferrostaal Inc. and NV Energy signed a letter of intent to construct a solar power station in the Amorgosa Desert. Development of the project started two years ago.
Construction of the first power plant is planned to begin in late 2010, with further solarthermal powerplants scheduled to follow in Southern Nevada. With NV Energy, MAN Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium have a partner who is experienced in planning power plants. NV Energy regards itself as a pioneer in the field of renewables and is particularly interested in developing and implementing this project: The new plant is designed to ensure that Nevada will no longer just be an electricity importer as in the past, but should in the future also be able to export it. The start-up financing made available by President Obama to create new jobs particularly supports renewables and is to subsidise the project to the tune of 30 percent.
Initially a parabolic collector power plant will be built to generate around 250 megawatts, plus thermal storages such as those already in use in the solar power plants Andasol 1 and 2 in southern Spain. The solar powerplant is intended to help cover the high power requirements of sunny regions in the hot summer months, and is to be designed in such a way that it can still produce electricity after the sun has set.
MAN Ferrostaal has been active in the field of solarthermal powerplants for over two years and has ensured it has access to key technologies by investing in the appropriate companies: MAN Solar Millennium, Solar Power Group and SOLITEM.
MAN Ferrostaal`s joint-venture partner responsible for constructing parabolic collector power plants is Solar Millennium AG, which in turn is commissioning its subsidiary Flagsol for the technical design of solarthermal powerplants. The basic technology employed here has been in use on a commercial scale for over 25 years. MAN Ferrostaal has an exclusive joint venture with Solar Millennium in which the two companies complement each other ideally. While Solar Millennium provides project development, financial engineering and the technology, MAN Ferrostaal contributes its expertise as an international EPC contractor and its worldwide sales network.
With its partner Solar Power Group (SPG), the company concentrates on Fresnel technology, which can be used as an alternative to parabolic collector mirrors and promises enormous cost savings potential. This technology is based on the use of flat mirrors which are arranged horizontally. A demonstration plant in Spain has provided very encouraging test results.
Solitem, the third partner, is the owner of a technology for converting sunlight into cooling energy using of absorption chilers. This technology is extremely promising for applications in the air-conditioning, industrial refrigeration and process steam sectors. Parabolic collectors are also used here, but they are smaller and lighter than those employed in powerplant applications.
Given that fossil resources are finite, it is essential to plan today for the time "when the oil has run out". A general paradigm shift - an intelligent diversification of energy sources - seems indispensable in the future. Studies show that in 2050 approximately 80 percent of all energy could be obtained from renewable sources. MAN Ferrostaal focuses its activities very much on environmentally friendly electricity, concentrating primarily on solar power. Solarthermal powerplants provide an interesting and extremely promising alternative to fossil fuels, both in economic and ecological terms. "Parabolic collector technology will remain the predominant technology in the solar sector over the next five years. To date it is the most cost-effective way to generate power in large power plants. It is a tried-and-tested technology which has been in use since the 1980s," says Dr. Rainer Kistner, Head of business unit Solar at MAN Ferrostaal.