GDF’s Kathu CSP Project will include 4.5 hours of storage

GDF Suez’s Kathu CSP Project was selected as a “preferred bidder” under Window 3.5 of the South African Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP).

According to a press release, the project -located in the Northern Cape Province, is a 100 MW parabolic trough with 4.5 hours of thermal energy storage.

The awarded consortium is led by GDF SUEZ (with a stake of approximately 49 %) and includes a group of South African investors. They are the SIOC Community Development Trust, Investec Bank, Lereko Metier and Public Investment Corporation.

Kathu CSP will provide electricity to the state-owned utility, Eskom, under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

SolarReserve and ACWA Power’s Redstone CSP Project to include 12 hours of storage

In similar manner, the Redstone CSP Project was awarded “preferred bidder” status under the Window 3.5 of the Department of Energy’s REIPPPP. The project is owned by a consortium led by SolarReserve and ACWA Power.

The project, a 100 MW molten salt tower, will be located “near Postmasburg, Kimberly, in the Northern Cape Province,” according to a statement released last week by the companies involved. The project will feature 12 hours of storage.

The consortium submitted “the lowest priced electricity of any CSP project in South Africa to date and it has the capacity to power 210,000 homes,” stated the companies. It is expected to achieve financial close at the end of this year and to begin commercial operations in early 2018.

A number of South African financing entities “will provide investment in the project of at least ZAR 2.4 billion,” or approximately USD 208 million.

STT to offer patented technologies to be used at CSP tower plants

Solar Tower Technologies AG, a German technology provider, has announced two bidding rounds to offer a portfolio of patents related to technologies to be used at CSP tower plants. The tenders will take place during the first quarter of 2015.

The patented products include new technologies to enhance “the solar field, the receiver, the heliostat design, the control systems and the receivers for gas turbines”, indicated Dr. Philipp Schramek, STT’s spokesperson.

During the first bidding round the company will offer two patents, which include the design of the solar field and a multi-section receiver. The patented applications offer “new designs of solar tower plants, which may lead to increased efficiency of the solar tower system and a reduction of required reflector and ground area,” said the company.

The deadline to submit offers is Monday, 26 January 2015. The companies interested in submitting documents for the first bidding round should get in contact with Solar Tower Technologies, through the e-mail address sales@stt.ag.

For further information, please contact Dr. Philipp Schramek on contact@stt.ag

Ibiden launches new technology for CSP mirrors at WFES 2015

Ibiden Co. Ltd., the Japanese company involved in the production of electronics and ceramics- related products, will launch a new silicon carbide (SiC) mirror for CSP applications. The launching ceremony will take place at the World Future Energy Summit 2015 (WFES), to be held on 19 -22 January 2015.

The mirrors were tested in desert conditions in collaboration with Masdar and the Masdar Institute. They are “non-glass, lightweight, scratch-proof, durable and anti-soiling,” according to a statement issued by the company.

The Japanese technology provider is also developing “solar selective absorber coatings, volumetric receivers, and thermal energy storage devices”, based on technologies of ceramic materials for CSP applications.

Abengoa and EIG Global Energy Partners reach agreement to develop Abengoa's projects under construction

The Spanish company announced last week that it had reached a “non-binding” agreement with the US-based energy and infrastructure investor EIG Global Energy Partners (EIG), for the development of Abengoa’s projects under construction.

The investment will be made through a newly-created company called Newco. The projects include “conventional generation, renewable energy assets and transmission lines in the US, Mexico, Brazil and Chile,” according to a statement issued by Abengoa.

The projects have a combined worth of around USD 9.5 billion. As part of this agreement, EIG will hold a majority stake in the Newco.

The transaction is under “due-diligence phase” and the companies expect to sign a “binding contract” by the end of this month.

Abengoa and EIG have signed similar agreements in the past, specifically in 2007, when both companies invested in the development of an ethanol plant in France.

U.S. Energy Secretary announces USD 125 million OPEN funding opportunity for energy projects

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz announced that the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is launching a funding scheme, OPEN 2015, for up to USD 125 million.

The finance will support “disruptive new technologies in transportation and stationary applications,” said ARPA-E in a statement issued on 7 January 2015.

ARPA-E has issued OPEN solicitations in 2009 and 2012. The projects selected under OPEN 2015 “will pursue novel approaches to energy innovation across the full spectrum of energy applications”.