It will be the world’s first Fresnel solar thermodynamic power plant with the capacity to store several hours of energy.
The French Commission De Regulation De L’energie (Regulatory Commission of Energy) had approved the project through bidding process and awarded the contract to CNIM in 2012.
The plant will be built and operated by SUNCNIM.
The plant will have the capacity to generate more than 9MW of electricity with 4 hours of thermal energy storage capacity and 153,000 m2 of mirror area. The electricity produced will be transmitted via the EDF grid.
SUNCNIM chairman Roger Pujol said: “The plant will be the world’s first in terms of technology. Designed to be eco-friendly and 100% recyclable, it will employ SUNCNIM technology using ‘Fresnel mirrors’. The thermal energy produced will be stored and converted into electricity via a steam generation process.”
According to CNIM, the project has been a product of several processes or events that went into the development. First, it was the company’s research on solar thermodynamics and investment strategy, followed by the design and manufacture of prototype in 2010.
The system was validated by Agency for the Environment and Optimization of Energy Resources (ADEME) in 2012. This encouraged the company to form SUNCNIM, a subsidiary which was financed by Bpifrance. These events helped the company in taking the thermodynamic project.
Bpifrance SPI fund director Magali Joessel said: “SUNCNIM was the first investment of SPI funds.”
“The fund was created with the aim of accelerating the industrialization of a technology with the potential to be a world leader in the still-emerging market for the production of solar thermal energy.”
Image: SUNCNIM’s solar thermodynamic project under construction in France. Photo: Courtesy of CNIM.
