Clean Edge - The Clean-Tech Market Authority

Search News:

Print

Previous Story | Next Story

Abengoa Solar, Xcel Energy Partner on Solar Thermal for Coal Plant

Abengoa Solar has been selected by Xcel Energy, Colorado's largest electric utility company, to build a demonstration parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plant at its Cameo coal plant near Grand Junction, Colorado. According to the companies, the project is the first to integrate an industrial solar installation into a conventional electrical power plant.

Construction is expected to start within a month and the plant is expected to be operational by the end of the year. The project, awarded to Abengoa Solar by Xcel, is the first project under an Innovative Clean Technology program that has been approved for Xcel Energy by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

The goal of the project is to prove that the heat produced by a solar facility can increase the efficiency of a conventional power plant while also lowering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Successful integration of this technology may enable future large-scale applications of this technology into other power plants.

"We continue to move forward in developing ways to help us reduce our impact on the environment," said David Wilks, President of Energy Supply for Xcel Energy. "If this demonstration works, we may be able to implement this type of technological advance in other coal-fired power plants to help further reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Colorado and possibly other areas of our service territory."

This four thermal megawatt solar installation will use parabolic trough collectors developed by Abengoa Solar.

Xcel is determined to be an innovator in the utility industry. Last week, Xcel's Boulder SmartGridCity project went online, creating what the utility says is the world's first fully functioning smart grid enabled city.