The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $72 million for new projects to advance high-temperature concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. These projects will extend previous research on high-temperature components, develop them into integrated assemblies, and test these components and systems through a wide range of operational conditions. CSP technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate… Keep reading →
Crescent Dunes will be generating electricity before the end of March, and SolarReserve’s south-central Nevada solar project won’t stumble out of the gate the way power-tower forerunner Ivanpah did, CEO Kevin Smith said in an interview with Breaking Energy. It would be an understatement to say there’s a lot riding on him being right. Crescent Dunes,… Keep reading →
Solar is increasingly providing clean, sustainable energy for our nation’s homes, businesses and industries. Clocking record-breaking growth and reaching a total of more than 4,700 megawatts of new installed capacity, 2013 was a big year for solar photovoltaic systems. But we’re also excited to watch 2014, which will mark a major milestone for a different… Keep reading →
BrightSource Energy says the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System is doing just fine, and that all along the company expected the “power tower” concentrating solar plant in California to take four years to hit full stride. Meanwhile, the latest federal reports indicate that in the first three quarters of the year the plant produced a… Keep reading →
News broke late last week the world’s second and third largest oil field services providers Halliburton and Baker Hughes were in merger negotiations. The combined company would more effectively compete with Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield service company. The deal briefly went hostile when it was reported over the weekend that Halliburton would make a… Keep reading →
Whether scorched birds are a major issue at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California is a matter of dispute. But the “power tower” solar plant and its owners – NRG Energy, Google and BrightSource Energy – might have an even more fundamental problem on their hands: generating adequate electricity. The Mojave Desert plant,… Keep reading →
State and U.S. officials on Tuesday heralded completion of a draft plan for renewable energy development in the deserts of Southern California, one they hope will ease conflicts that have grown in number and intensity since work began on the plan five years ago. As an answer to climate change, conservationists have overwhelmingly supported President… Keep reading →
It’s Palen, not Palin, but it’s still proving to be controversial and unpredictable. Seemingly dead in December, then indicted in the press last month as a likely wanton bird incinerator, the Palen Solar Electric Generating System now looks like it might get the go-ahead. A California Energy Commission committee recommended approval of a scaled-down version… Keep reading →
What the flux? Renewable energy and its advocates and detractors are having a moment, that’s what, a bout of hysteria after the Associated Press revealed that, OMG, renewables aren’t a magical force capable of keeping our air conditioners humming and big-screen TVs aglow without exacting some toll. As with wind, the toll here is in… Keep reading →
![Agua Caliente Plant[1]](https://breakingenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/04/Agua-Caliente-Plant1.jpg)
The United States has long been known for building at a scale previously never achieved: Hoover Dam was the world’s largest dam when it was completed, Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) was the world’s tallest building for decades and the Library of Congress remains the largest library in the world. Today we add another innovation… Keep reading →
