Biggest ever solar power plant in South Africa The planned 100MW Redstone concentrated solar thermal power plant will be the biggest in South Africa Staff Writer November 20, 2014 22 Comments 57 Like Tweet 18 57 Like Twee 18 15 The planned 100MW Redstone concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant, which forms part of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP), will be the biggest in South Africa. SolarReserve announced on 11 November 2014 that the 96 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) Jasper solar power project completed construction and was fully operational. The PV Jasper plant is currently the biggest solar power plant in South Africa. However, the 100MW Redstone CSP plant is set to overtake it. SolarReserve, along with its partner ACWA Power, is bidding for the planned Redstone CSP project which is likely to feature SolarReserve’s CSP technology with integrated energy storage. SolarReserve spokesperson Mary Grikas told MyBroadband that due to the fully integrated thermal energy storage, the Redstone plant will provide non-intermittent dispatchable power on-demand. “This provides the utility a power source which powers the grid just like conventional coal, oil, nuclear, or natural gas-fired power plants,” said Grikas. The biggest benefit of the CSP plant is that it produces electricity without harmful emissions or hazardous materials, and without any fuel cost for the 30+ year life of the project. “We, along with other industry participants, are awaiting announcement by the South Africa DoE, which could happen by the end of the year, hopefully sooner,” said Grikas. How a CSP plant works CSP uses thousands of mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a central point to generate heat, which in turn is used to generate electricity. More than 10,000 tracking mirrors called heliostats reside in a 1,500 acre field where they reflect and concentrate sunlight onto a large heat exchanger, called a receiver, which sits atop a 550-foot tower.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 08:17:02 +0000
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