Renewable Energy World
On the heels of Chile President Michelle Backlet’s announcement of a new national energy agenda, which emphasized energy efficiency, new investment in local energy and infrastructure, and improved transmission that may lead to more renewables development, several companies have announced new solar projects in the works.
Abengoa is developing Latin America’s first concentrating solar power (CSP) project, located in the Atacama Desert, which is home to some of the highest levels of solar irradiance in the world — perfect for the technology. The 110-MW plant will include molten salt storage technology enabling it to produce electricity for up to nearly 18 hours without direct sunlight — this could feasibly allow the plant to run 24 hours per day.
This tower and molten salt technology uses a series of mirrors (heliostats) that track the sun on two axes, concentrating the solar radiation on a receiver on the upper part of the tower. The heat is then transferred to molten salts and then moves to an exchanger where heat is again moved on to a water current. The fluid then generates steam that drives a turbine to create energy.
The $1 billion project will create around 700 construction jobs, and hold 50 permanent positions.
