AREVA Solar : Projects

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is partnering with AREVA Solar on an innovative concentrated solar power addition to TEP’s H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station in Tucson, Ariz.
Tucson Electric Power’s Sundt Solar Boost Project will use AREVA Solar’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector solar steam generators to produce up to 5 megawatts of power during peak demand periods without added emissions. Over the course of a year, the system will allow Sundt Unit 4 to produce enough additional power to serve more than 600 Tucson homes.

Producing that same amount of power at the dual-fueled unit would otherwise require burning 46 million cubic feet of natural gas, or 3,600 tons of coal. So by offsetting the use of those fuels, the Sundt Solar Boost project avoids the annual production of either 4,600 or 8,500 tons of carbon dioxide, depending on whether the unit is running on natural gas or coal.

The Sundt Solar Boost Project is part of TEP’s plan to expand its solar generating capacity to more than 200 MW by the end of 2014. Its output will help TEP meet or exceed Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard, which requires electric utilities to increase their use of renewable energy each year until it accounts for 15 percent of their power in 2025.

In addition to helping TEP meet its renewable energy goals cost-effectively, the Sundt Solar Boost Project will allow the company to evaluate the potential integration of CSP additions at other power plants. The project will also further demonstrate AREVA’s high-pressure, superheated steam offering.

Construction of the Sundt Solar Boost is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2012, and the project is expected to be operational by early 2013. The facility will be built on TEP property adjacent to the Sundt plant, which is located east of South Alvernon Way between East Irvington Road and Interstate 10. The project is expected to create 50 jobs during peak construction.

In addition to augmenting coal-fired power plants, AREVA’s solar steam generators can also easily integrate with natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plants and can be used in standalone solar thermal and hybrid facilities, as well as industrial process steam applications. AREVA recently broke ground on a 44 MW solar booster project for a coal-fired power station in Australia and currently has more than 540 MW of CSP projects in operation, under construction or in advanced development.

The Australian Government has selected the AREVA Solar, CS Energy and Wind Prospect CWP consortium’s “Solar Dawn” as the preferred solar thermal power project in Round 1 of the Australian Government’s Solar Flagships Program.

Solar Dawn is a proposed 250 megawatt solar thermal gas hybrid power plant and will be the largest plant of its kind in the world when completed. The Australian Commonwealth and Queensland Governments also announced their commitment to contribute AU$ 464 million and AU$ 75 million, respectively, to the project.

Solar Dawn will be located in South West Queensland, near CS Energy’s recently an-nounced 44 megawatt Kogan Creek Solar Boost Project. Like Solar Dawn, Kogan Creek Solar Boost will also use AREVA Solar’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) solar thermal technology.

As a solar thermal gas hybrid power plant, Solar Dawn will combine AREVA Solar’s CLFR solar steam generators with a gas boiler back-up system, giving it the ability to deliver around the clock power.

The Solar Dawn consortium will now work closely with key government, commercial and community stakeholders to finalize all relevant approvals and financing arrangements, as well as engineering, procurement, construction, operations and maintenance contracts, by the end of 2011.

The Solar Flagships Program aims to provide the foundation for large-scale, grid-connected solar power and accelerate the commercialization of this energy source in Australia. It is a key component of the Australian Government’s AU$5 billion Clean Energy Initiative.

For more information about the Solar Dawn power project, please visit http://solardawn.com.au/

AREVA has been awarded a major contract to install a 44 megawatt solar thermal augmentation project at a 750 megawatt coal-fired power station in Queensland, Australia, representing the largest solar project in the Southern Hemisphere and the world’s largest solar/coal-fired power augmentation project.

AREVA’s Australian-pioneered Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology will be installed at CS Energy’s Kogan Creek Power Station. Construction of the solar boost project is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2011, with commercial operation planned for 2013. The AU$104.7 million (€76.4 million) Kogan Creek Power Station Solar Boost Project represents the largest deployment of AREVA Solar’s solar thermal technology in the world and will generate an additional 44,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year. It will incorporate the superheated solar steam generator technology demonstrated at AREVA’s Kimberlina site in Bakersfield, California.

Located in Bakersfield, CA, AREVA Solar’s Kimberlina Solar Thermal Power Plant is the first of its kind in North America and the first CSP plant to come online California in nearly 20 years.

AREVA Solar is ready to power its customers and provide industrial steam for businesses, working to cut energy costs with emissions-free technology.

• Kimberlina helps meet peak power demand for the wholesale energy market during California's summer months.
• It also serves as a testing and demonstration facility for technology advancements and for customer demonstration.
• The rows of mirrors at Kimberlina were manufactured at AREVA Solar’s solar thermal power factory in Las Vegas, Nevada. At full build out, these solar thermal collector lines will generate up to 25 MWt (5 MWe).