Andasol 3 online

A consortium of five German companies - power and infrastructure company Stadtwerke München, RWE Innogy, RheinEnergie, Ferrostaal and Solar Millennium – last week conducted the inauguration ceremony for the Andasol 3 solar thermal power plant in Andalusia, southern Spain.

The plant is currently running in test mode; commercial operations are due to begin in the coming weeks, according to German solar thermal specialist Solar Millennium. 

Construction on Andasol 3, which is being described as the largest European solar power plant, began in mid 2008. The power plant, with an installed output of 50 MW, was completed on schedule this summer.

The companies involved founded the project enterprise Marquesado Solar for the realisation of the Andasol 3 project. 

Stadtwerke München holds a 48.9% share, RWE Innogy and RheinEnergie a joint 25.1% via a holding company (RWE Innogy: 51%; RheinEnergie: 49%). 13% each is held by Ferranda (Ferrostaal) and the Andasol Kraftwerks (Solar Millennium).

Egyptian hybrid CSP plant outperforms expectations

German solar thermal specialist Solar Millennium is off to a positive start in Egypt. The company says the solar field performance of the hybrid power plant with 150 MW capacity has exceeded expectations, performing nearly 8% above target.  

Kuraymat, which is situated around 100 kilometres south of Cairo, went into commercial operation in June this year. The solar technology was supplied by Flagsol, a subsidiary of Solar Millennium, and was installed and commissioned in cooperation with Egyptian general contractor, Orascom Construction Industries. 

Since receiving the operational acceptance certificate on June 1, 2011, Flagsol has advised Orascom on operation and maintenance (O&M) of the solar field.

In addition to solar energy, the plant also uses natural gas.

Abengoa completes first CSP plant in India 

Spanish engineering firm Abengoa says it has completed the first solar-thermal power plant in India, with a 3 MW capacity, for the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. Abengoa was responsible for the design and engineering, the supply and the start-up of this power plant located in Gwal Pahari in the state of Haryana, around 35 kilometers from New Delhi. 

The project entailed required an investment of around US$4 million. Abengoa stated that this is the first plant of this kind developed in India. This initiative forms part of the programme promoted by the Indian government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to encourage R&D projects that it hopes will achieve grid parity by 2022.

In January this year, Abengoa signed an agreement with Indian engineering and manufacturing enterprise Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and formalised a strategic partnership to jointly undertake CSP projects in India. The agreement covers joint supply and implementation of CSP plants through engineering, procurement and construction contracts. 

The pact also includes analysis of new areas of co-operation outside India. Abengoa and BHEL will have significant role in business co-operation, under the agreement.

Shrijee completes task for India’s first CSP plant

Mumbai, India-based Shrijee Heavy Projects Works, a part of the Shrijee Group, has completed the supply of mirror supporting structures and drive pylons for India’s first solar thermal power plant.

Spanish engineering firm Abengoa completed the work on the same plant for Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. Abengoa was responsible for the design and engineering, the supply and the start-up of this power plant located in Gwal Pahari in the state of Haryana, around 35 kilometers from New Delhi

Shrijee, which has been supplying tower, substation and solar mounting structures to both Indian and international EPC contractors, shared that it has also done related site activities such as erection, assembly and installation. 

The company’s scope of work at the site included assembly of structures, drive pylons, tracking mechanism and installation of mirrors and drive pylon hydraulics. Shrijee has performed these activities for and under the supervision of Abener. 

Kuhn resigns from Solar Millennium’s Supervisory Board

Hannes Kuhn recently informed the Executive Board of German solar thermal specialist Solar Millennium about his decision to resign from the company’s Supervisory Board with immediate effect. 

Accepting Kuhn’s resignation, the Executive Board stated that it expects this personal decision to put an end to the public discussion regarding his role “that has proved an immense strain on the company, its staff and Kuhn himself”. 

A successor for Kuhn will be announced in due time.

UC Merced research team unveils solar cooling project

A team of researchers at the University of California, Merced, has designed and developed a novel system that uses heat from the sun to generate thermal energy that can be used for solar heating and cooling and other applications.  

The system gathers and concentrates sunlight onto specially made collector tubes. The heat generated can then be transformed using existing technology for cooling, heating and a number of other potential uses. 

The UC Merced design — called an External Compound Parabolic Concentrator (XCPC) — generates solar thermal efficiency of 60% at temperatures up to 400 F, achieving thermal performance previously seen only in tracking systems, according to the University. 

It added that in contrast to tracking systems that work only on clear, sunny days, the UC Merced design can work in hazy conditions because it “sees” most of the sky, allowing collection of both direct and indirect sunlight. 

The design is unique because the collectors are stationary and do not require tracking mechanisms that are costly to install and maintain.

UC Merced Professor Roland Winston’s team installed a mobile office trailer at their facility at Castle in Atwater and are cooling the trailer using air conditioning powered by an array of 160 XCPCs in two parallel rows, shared the University.

The air conditioning used in the demonstration comes from a high-performance, double-effect absorption unit — a type that requires a significant heat source to generate cooling.

Over the course of two years, more than 30 UC Merced students have participated in the project.

Saint-Gobain Solar gears up for its new facility in North America

Building materials company Saint-Gobain, which has its North American headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, has started the construction work on Saint-Gobain Solar’s mirror line for solar thermal power stations. The plant, which is located in Goodyear, Arizona, will be the company’s first manufacturing facility in North America and the new solar mirror line is planned to come on stream in the last quarter of this year.

The company shared that this facility complements its current solar mirror production base, which includes a parabolic mirrors plant in Portugal and a flat mirrors facility in Germany. This new plant will produce solar mirrors for various thermal power station technologies, such as concentration towers and linear Fresnel lenses. The plant’s projected production capacity corresponds to an annual thermal power output of 300MW.

The plant will result in 50 new jobs for the area.