The 110MW solar facility is designed to generate clean electricity by focusing the sun energy onto a receiver using tracking mirrors, known as heliostats, to directly heat molten salt and then store it so electricity can be produced day and night.
Claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, the project’s key intellectual property (IP) include SolarReserve’s molten salt technology, comprising the molten salt receiver, the heliostat collector field controls and tracking system, as well as the molten salt energy storage system.
SolarReserve CEO Kevin Smith said: "The climate deal unveiled in Paris has the potential to catalyse a global energy transformation. It will further accelerate implementation of renewables around the world, including within emerging markets such as Africa, Latin America and Asia."
Following synchronization with the Nevada grid, the Crescent Dunes project has generated first test electricity in the fall of 2015.
Power generated from the project will be sold to Nevada’s largest electric utility NV Energy under 25-year power purchase agreement.
Smith added: "As renewable energy penetration grows, the need for cost-effective, utility-scale renewable generation with storage technology is becoming increasingly important for mitigating intermittency problems, delivering power into peak demand periods and supporting transmission system reliability.
"Our proven U.S.-developed energy storage technology deployed at the Crescent Dunes facility is already being used as a blueprint for projects in these emerging markets."
SolarReserve said that the solar energy storage technology also delivers renewable base load and dispatchable power that can compete with traditional fossil-fired and nuclear electricity generation methods.
Image: SolarReserve’s Crescent Dunes solar thermal energy storage technology. Photo: courtesy of PR Newswire.
