"We are very pleased and honored that our industry peers recognize SolarReserve’s contribution to advance the CSP industry as a whole," said Kevin Smith, CEO of SolarReserve. "SolarReserve’s market-leading solar technology with integrated energy storage is changing the image of the renewable energy industry, as our technology provides firm, reliable electricity, when it’s needed, day or night." In addition to the "Industry Choice" award, SolarReserve was also a finalist for CSP Today’s "Most Effective Environmental Stewardship of the Year" award.
Unlike other commercial-scale solar power technology to date, SolarReserve’s innovative CSP technology utilizes integrated energy storage to deliver reliable, firm electricity on-demand, day or night, 24 hours a day. SolarReserve’s technology will be showcased at its 110 megawatt flagship project that began construction in September 2011, the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant, located in Tonopah, Nevada.
Providing a shining example of green job creation, the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant currently has nearly 100 workers on site. Currently, 62 percent of the construction workers are local Nevadans and 70 percent of the subcontractors are Nevada-based, including union and non-union firms, demonstrating SolarReserve’s commitment to local economic development. Construction is expected to peak at more than 600 jobs on site later this year and is estimated to create more than 4,300 direct, indirect and induced jobs across the supply chain. Orders for equipment and services for the project have been placed in more than 20 states.
SolarReserve’s solar power tower technology generates electricity from sunlight by focusing the sun’s thermal energy onto a central receiver. When electricity is needed, molten salt heated by a receiver at the top of the tower is sent to a heat exchanger to produce steam, which in turn drives a conventional steam turbine electrical generator. The cooler molten salt is stored, ready to be reheated by the sun and used again as part of a continuous closed loop. This integrated energy storage allows the technology to deploy electricity, eliminating intermittency issues while providing the same operating stability, reliability and dispatchability of a conventional power generator, but without the emissions or hazardous materials generated by convention power plants. The SolarReserve system is completely self-sustaining and emissions free – no fossil fuels are required.
The "Industry Choice" award was new to CSP Today USA and the only award voted on by peers within the industry.
SolarReserve, LLC – headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. – is a solar energy project development company developing large-scale solar energy projects worldwide. The company holds the exclusive worldwide license to the molten salt, solar power tower technology developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. SolarReserve’s team of power project professionals have assembled a concentrated solar power development portfolio of more than 25 projects featuring its licensed solar power technology with potential output of more than 3,000 megawatts in the United States and Europe; with additional development activities in other international markets including the Middle East, North and South Africa, Australia, China, and Latin America. SolarReserve is also developing more than 1,500 MW of photovoltaic projects across the United States and internationally. SolarReserve’s experienced management team has previously developed and financed more than $15 billion in renewable and conventional energy projects in more than a dozen countries around the world.
SolarReserve’s molten salt, concentrating solar power tower technology was successfully demonstrated in California under a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored pilot project in the late 1990s. The 10 MW pilot facility utilized a molten salt receiver designed, engineered and assembled by Rocketdyne. SolarReserve’s lead project, the 110 MW Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project located in Nevada, started construction in September of 2011.
