Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant Built in 16 Years Goes Online
Largest Solar Thermal Power Plant Built in 16 Years Goes Online
SCHOTT North America press release
June 8, 2007
SCHOTT today announced that with the connection of the Nevada Solar One power plant to the grid, its solar receivers officially began collecting solar radiation needed to generate clean energy for Nevada homes.
Built by Acciona Solar Power, the 64-MW solar thermal power plant covers 400 acres. SCHOTT supplies 11,136 of the 18,240 receivers being used by Nevada Solar One. Nevada Solar One will generate up to 134 million kW hours of electricity per year, enough energy to power more than 15,000 U.S. households annually.
Electricity generated by the Nevada Solar One power plant will be sold to Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).
“We are convinced that parabolic trough power plants are on their way to achieving a global breakthrough, thanks to Nevada Solar One. The technology has already proven itself and the costs of generating electricity will soon be competitive. Parabolic trough power plants offer immense potential for generating power in an environmentally compatible and climate friendly manner. We are pleased that we have contributed the key component of this high-potential technology with our state-of-the-art receivers,” said Professor Dr. Udo Ungeheuer, Chairman of the Board of Management of SCHOTT.
Solar Thermal — A Key Source of Clean Energy
The Nevada Solar One power plant uses parabolic mirrors to concentrate solar radiation onto receivers [FIGURE 1], the majority of which are SCHOTT PTR 70 solar receivers. This solar radiation increases the temperature of the thermo-oil Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) flowing through the receivers. This heated fluid is then used to turn water into steam, which drives a turbine and generates electricity [FIGURE 2].
The use of solar thermal power to produce electricity at Nevada Solar One rather than fossil fuels is equivalent to eliminating the CO2 emissions from approximately 20,000 cars on America’s roads.
Because it reduces U.S. dependency on fossil fuels to generate electricity, solar thermal power could potentially be a major source of renewable energy for the southwestern United States and sun-belt areas around the world.
“Resource calculations show that just seven states in the U.S. Southwest could provide more than 7 million MW of solar generating capacity — roughly 10 times the total U.S. generating capacity from all sources today,” according to a report from the Center for American Progress and Worldwide Institute.
The report also states that the parabolic trough solar thermal technology used at Nevada Solar One “provides the best performance and lowest cost of all types of solar power plants.”
SCHOTT — A Leader in Solar Thermal Power
Over the past decade SCHOTT has increased its investment in the solar thermal power market, devoting R&D dollars to the development of the PTR 70 receiver, and to new production facilities to manufacture this receiver.
Currently SCHOTT has a production facility in Mitterteich, Germany producing PTR solar receivers, and is investing approximately $28 million (22 million) to build a new solar receiver production facility in the Seville region of Spain.