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on 05 November 2007, 18:49
by April Kilcrease
Pacific Gas and Electric on Monday announced that it signed a
177-megawatt solar thermal power purchasing agreement with Ausra.
According to John O'Donnell, Ausra's executive vice president, the
twenty-year agreement will generate over $1 billion in revenue for the
Palo Alto, California-based start-up.
The plant will be located in San Luis Obispo County, California, and
is expected to begin generating power in 2010. Ausra has filed its
application for certification for this plant with the California
Energy Commission, which must grant approval before construction
begins.
PG&E supplies 12 percent of its energy from renewable sources, said
Keely Wachs, PG&E's environmental communications manager.
"PG&E continues to aggressively add renewable electric power
resources" to its supply and the company is confident that it will
meet or exceed its 20 percent renewable energy goal by 2010, he said.
Proving that bigger isn't always better, the plant will use only one
square mile of land and will burn no fuel, use minimal water, and have
no air or water emissions.
Ausra's Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar technology
utilizes the heat from the sun's rays to create steam. Solar
collectors boil water at high temperatures to power steam turbine
generators.
Because Ausra's flat mirrors–called Fresnel reflectors–are never more
than eight feet off the ground, they cast shorter shadows that allow
them to be built close together. This means Ausra only needs 2-2.5
acres of land per megawatt compared with 5 acres per megawatt for
solar trough systems or 7 acres per megawatt for solar dish engine
systems, Mr. O'Donnell said.
Compared with other power purchase agreements in California in the
last few years, the new agreement with Ausra is among the smallest.
According to Mr. Wachs, PG&E's 553-megawatt power purchase agreement
with Solel-MSP-1, a subsidiary of Israel-based Solel Thermal Systems,
in July is the single largest solar commitment in the world right now.
PG&E has also entered an agreement with Oakland, California-based
BrightSource Energy for a 500-megawatt plan to be announced soon.
Although these agreements dwarf the deal with Ausra, New Energy
Finance analyst Nathaniel Bullard said that Ausra is well-positioned.
Other solar thermal energy projects such as Solel's Mojave Solar Park,
to be constructed in California's Mojave Desert, will be far away from
populated areas and the electric grid. Ausra's plant, to be located
about ten miles north of Carrizo Plain National Monument, may get less
sun than the Mojave Desert, but it will be directly under a PG&E
transmission line, O'Donnell said.
Ausra's proposed plant will only need "850 feet to connect," said
Bullard. They'll be able to "tap right into the electric grid. It's a
lot less expensive and it speeds up the process."
The high cost of the feeder and trunk lines required to connect to the
grid from a long distance are often well outside of a smaller
developer's range.
By skirting the sometimes two-year-long Bureau of Land Management
review process and eschewing the burden of proof required to build on
public land, Ausra's decision to buy private land will also help speed
up the process.
"We're hoping to be the first to break ground," Mr. O'Donnell said.
The plant, which will be built on dried out former farm land, will be
"growing megawatts instead of wheat," he said.
Perhaps Ausra's plant will prove that when it comes to cost and speed,
size doesn't always matter in the race to solar thermal power.
article. Powered by Odiogo.com
on 05 November 2007, 18:49
by April Kilcrease
Pacific Gas and Electric on Monday announced that it signed a
177-megawatt solar thermal power purchasing agreement with Ausra.
According to John O'Donnell, Ausra's executive vice president, the
twenty-year agreement will generate over $1 billion in revenue for the
Palo Alto, California-based start-up.
The plant will be located in San Luis Obispo County, California, and
is expected to begin generating power in 2010. Ausra has filed its
application for certification for this plant with the California
Energy Commission, which must grant approval before construction
begins.
PG&E supplies 12 percent of its energy from renewable sources, said
Keely Wachs, PG&E's environmental communications manager.
"PG&E continues to aggressively add renewable electric power
resources" to its supply and the company is confident that it will
meet or exceed its 20 percent renewable energy goal by 2010, he said.
Proving that bigger isn't always better, the plant will use only one
square mile of land and will burn no fuel, use minimal water, and have
no air or water emissions.
Ausra's Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar technology
utilizes the heat from the sun's rays to create steam. Solar
collectors boil water at high temperatures to power steam turbine
generators.
Because Ausra's flat mirrors–called Fresnel reflectors–are never more
than eight feet off the ground, they cast shorter shadows that allow
them to be built close together. This means Ausra only needs 2-2.5
acres of land per megawatt compared with 5 acres per megawatt for
solar trough systems or 7 acres per megawatt for solar dish engine
systems, Mr. O'Donnell said.
Compared with other power purchase agreements in California in the
last few years, the new agreement with Ausra is among the smallest.
According to Mr. Wachs, PG&E's 553-megawatt power purchase agreement
with Solel-MSP-1, a subsidiary of Israel-based Solel Thermal Systems,
in July is the single largest solar commitment in the world right now.
PG&E has also entered an agreement with Oakland, California-based
BrightSource Energy for a 500-megawatt plan to be announced soon.
Although these agreements dwarf the deal with Ausra, New Energy
Finance analyst Nathaniel Bullard said that Ausra is well-positioned.
Other solar thermal energy projects such as Solel's Mojave Solar Park,
to be constructed in California's Mojave Desert, will be far away from
populated areas and the electric grid. Ausra's plant, to be located
about ten miles north of Carrizo Plain National Monument, may get less
sun than the Mojave Desert, but it will be directly under a PG&E
transmission line, O'Donnell said.
Ausra's proposed plant will only need "850 feet to connect," said
Bullard. They'll be able to "tap right into the electric grid. It's a
lot less expensive and it speeds up the process."
The high cost of the feeder and trunk lines required to connect to the
grid from a long distance are often well outside of a smaller
developer's range.
By skirting the sometimes two-year-long Bureau of Land Management
review process and eschewing the burden of proof required to build on
public land, Ausra's decision to buy private land will also help speed
up the process.
"We're hoping to be the first to break ground," Mr. O'Donnell said.
The plant, which will be built on dried out former farm land, will be
"growing megawatts instead of wheat," he said.
Perhaps Ausra's plant will prove that when it comes to cost and speed,
size doesn't always matter in the race to solar thermal power.
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