(Image credit wesdesd)

US provides investment guarantee to South African Redstone project

The US' Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has approved $400 million in financing for the 100 MW Redstone CSP project being developed by SolarReserve and ACWA Power in Northern Cape, South Africa.

The funds will be used as an investment guarantee to help construct and operate the plant, OPIC said September 17.

"OPIC financing supports the agency’s key role in President Obama’s Power Africa initiative, which aims to address critical power access needs across sub-Saharan Africa," it said in a statement.

OPIC provides private capital to projects around the world, helping US businesses gain footholds in new markets.

South Africa CSP capacity could rise from 200 MW this year to over 1 GW by 2020, under an optimistic market scenario, according to the CSP Today Markets Forecast Report: 2015-2025.

US provides $32 million to lower CSP costs

The US Department of Energy has announced $32 million in funding for 14 projects that address technical challenges in subsystems of CSP plants with the aim of lowering the levelised cost of electricity.

Projects will research new techniques in solar collectors, receivers, thermal energy storage, novel power cycles and operations and maintenance, the DoE said September 16.

"These research and development projects will improve the performance and increase the efficiency of CSP plants overall, building on the success of previous Energy Department investments in this technology and leading to lower cost, higher efficiency, and more reliable CSP systems," the DoE said in a statement.

TSK group to build 50 MW CSP plant in Kuwait

Spain's TSK group has been awarded the contract to build a Eur362 million ($406 million) solar power complex in the Shagaya Renewable Energy Park, Kuwait which will include 50 MW of thermal solar power capacity and a 10 MW photovoltaic plant.

The 50 MW Shagaya CSP project is scheduled for a commercial start-up in 2017. The project will use a parabolic trough technology called SKAL-T designed by TSK's German subsidiary Flagsol.

"The thermal storage system, that will have a capacity of 9 hours due to the use of melted salts, will also be designed completely by TSK, in this case from its technology center in Gijón, Spain," TSK said in a statement September 11.

The CSP and PV plants will have a coordinated energy management system so that the whole plant can better integrate into the electricity grid and provide an "auxiliary service to the grid manager," the company said.

TSK will carry out the engineering, supply, construction and start-up of the entire project.

The Shagaya Renewable Energy Park, situated 100 km from Kuwait City, has been designed and developed by the Ministry of Electricity and Water and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR). The government wants the park to attain a renewable capacity of 2 GW by 2030.

Schott Group cuts solar receiver research

Germany's Schott Group announced September 15 it was "restructuring" its solar receiver research department due to weak demand for solar thermal power plant components and related innovations. Schott had shut down its solar receiver manufacturing section in the Mitterteich factory for the same reasons in August 2014, but had decided to keep its R&D unit open at the time.

"This decision will affect about 30 employees at the site in Mitterteich, Bavaria, and 5 employees at the main plant in Mainz. Schott will strive to offer these employees jobs in other areas of the company," the group said.