Solar thermal power continues to evoke bullish sentiments from the various sections of the industry.

As it sustains its momentum, especially by getting into utility generation portfolios, the solar thermal power industry continues to hog the limelight. Studies have referred to 2007 as a key year for solar CSP development. And this year, the companies in the solar power sector have already raised $670 million in more than 23 financing rounds during the second quarter.

Yet another green signal comes for CSP, this time coming from Earth Policy Institute (EPI).

In its latest projects, EPI has stated that with concentrating solar thermal power capacity expected to double every 16 months over the next five years, worldwide installed CSP capacity will reach 6,400 megawatts in 2012—14 times the current capacity.

In the recent past, EER estimated that the industry could witness a potential investment of $20 billion in Solar CSP markets over the next five years.

EPI  highlighted that more than a dozen new CSP plants are being planned in the United States, with some 3,100 megawatts expected to come online by 2012. CSP projects in the planning stages include the 553-megawatt Mojave Solar Park in California, the 500-megawatt Solar One and 300-megawatt Solar Two projects in California, a 300-megawatt facility in Florida, and the 280-megawatt Solana plant in Arizona.

On how various states in the US are going about identifying and evaluating renewable energy zones within their respective region and designing transmission facilities, Western Resource Advocates' Charles Benjamin told CSPToday.com that Texas and Colorado are implementing legislation called "competitive renewable energy zones" that mandate that their state's public utility commissions work with utilities to identify the best areas of their states for various types of renewable energy, what kind of transmission infrastructure would be needed to bring that energy to the load and then providing guaranteed cost recovery to the utilities for developing such transmission infrastructure. 

Speaking with CSPToday ahead of its second CSP Summit US, scheduled to take place in San Francisco on 30th September – 1st October this year, Benjamin said, "The Nevada Governor has set up a Renewable Energy Transmission Access Advisory Committee (RETAAC) that in 2007 identified areas of Nevada with the best potential for wind, solar, geothermal and biomass energy production.  The Governor appointed a second phase of RETAAC that is now meeting to recommend policy options for the development of the renewable energy potential in Nevada.  California is in a process called a Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) whose goal is identify transmission projects needed to meet California's goals to implement more renewable energy."

Outside the US, Spain, too, continues to march ahead with its CSP projects. EPI made reference to the 11-megawatt PS10 tower. The tower is part of the 300-megawatt Solúcar Platform, which, when completed in 2013, will contain ten CSP plants and produce enough electricity to supply 153,000 homes while preventing 185,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually. In all, more than 60 plants are in the pipeline in Spain, with 2,570 megawatts expected to come online by 2012, shared EPI.

CSPToday's second CSP Summit US is scheduled to take place in San Francisco on 30th September – 1st October this year.

For more info, click here: http://www.csptoday.com/us/programme.shtml

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Sara Lloyd-Jones

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