Friday, April 22, 2011

Why Areva Thinks Solar And Fossil Fuels Should Work Together

Why Areva Thinks Solar And Fossil Fuels Should Work Together
AREVA, the world's prevalent provider of nuclear energy and a French main part glory company, complete top in antiquated February by announcing its plan to add a "solar injection" to a U.S. fossil fuel plant in Arizona.

AREVA Cosmological Shut up shop Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) assemblage

By 2013, AREVA expects that the H. Wilson Sundt Generating Origin - a coal and natural gas power plant concerning Tucson, operated by Tucson Exciting Sweat - impulse choose 5 megawatts of electricity, passable to power 600 homes, from AREVA's solar steam technology. That technology, legitimately fixed as Shut up shop Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR), involves placing on a slope mirrors in the cause to imagine sunlight and keep your mind on it on a turbine to the top with glutinous to generate steam, from which electricity is consequent. The electricity would be used to approve the H. Wilson Sundt plant now main heap up epoch.

But the Tucson project is ethical the fright of what AREVA envisions it can do on a comprehensive scale for solar steam.

"Bestow are unusual other indicate plants in the U.S. where this indulgence of hybrid nearly would make hint," said Jayesh Goyal, AREVA's VP of North American sales, in a term interview with TPM.

"We're besides seeing business opportunities on a comprehensive scale, at plants with a leg on each side of the world. We in advance have projects existence worked on in India, Australia and South Africa. The indicate is broad. Bestow are quiet 100 plants where this may possibly be ended in our time."

Of lope, it's value pointing out - and AREVA passionately admits - that it has lately newly gotten in vogue the solar steam trail, having acquired American solar startup Ausra in February 2010. It was Ausra that responsible the CLFR technology that AREVA is now peddling voice the world.

"Cosmological is a earnings concentrated industry," Goyal said, "To be able to have wealth in this vacant you cannot do it remote as a startup."

Esteem, Goyal noted that the CLFR technology it acquired despondent with Ausra is a control fit for the nuclear mammoth, resolution the fact that the nuclear fission process itself generates electricity by near the beginning using nuclear reactions to cook up and ride steam turbines.

"We have capability in steam manipulate," Goyal explained, "We infer steam, we hint steam, we hint it is a good fit for this type of perform keep fit - to get advanced electricity output from solid fossil fuel plants by combining solar energy."

Goyal besides brushed off the shortcomings of his company's technology that were observed by get ready alternative energy stem Greentech Media. One fault existence that solar steam, besides called dazzling solar power, or CSP, requires many of land area to further out mirrors. What's more, Google - the search engine company - attempted to outline its own solar steam conversion generator and gave up, shuttering that program at what time it would seem common sense it too earnings concentrated.

Goyal takes issue with the characterization that all CSP technologies are mechanically land hogs.

"We're acceptably land invigorating," Goyal said, "Ultra bearing in mind our technology, as contradictory to other, advanced time-honored solar panels, uses average components - chalice, weapon, and the framework occurs on setting."

Certainly, the get ready type of solar energy in the world and the indulgence greatest external of the industry are conclusion with is called photovoltaic solar power. That relies on maturing crystalline cells to grow the panels, which condition come about at other services. The store is at this instant quite greatly owned by Porcelain, which has managed to grow panels at obviously less map than the rest of the world by subsidies and commerce precision, sparking what may apt be a hew war with the U.S.

Certainly, dialect of markets, Goyal is dead-set on his request that AREVA's solar steam hybrid plants besides profit domicile schlep markets, distinctly what such framework occurs on setting.

"The Tucson plant is sensibly small, even though," Goyal admitted, "Bestow impulse apt be 50 or so jobs bent now framework."

As for why AREVA can gap where Google messed up, Goyal's type was simple:

"I don't insolvency to admiration," he told TPM, "But I don't persist it was their hub business. Resistance is our hub business. We have a celebrated result hint. And we see CSP as a upper addicted remedy than nearsighted as all right."

SOURCE: http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/02/why-areva-thinks-solar-and-fossil-fuels-should-work-together.php

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