eSolar and Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group (B&W PGG) have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive up to US$10.8 million in funding for the design, construction and testing of a modular, baseload molten salt power plant using concentrated solar power (CSP).
The program has been designed with the aim of achieving the lowest levelized electricity cost of any utility-scale CSP plant. The company’s approach to the plant’s design will involve building the components in a factory and shipping them fully assembled to the plant site, thereby simplifying the plant permitting process.
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“We’re excited about the U.S. government’s support for eSolar and B&W PGG’s development of this important and innovative technology,” said B&W president and COO Richard Killion. “Concentrating solar power and molten salt technology have the potential to play a major role in meeting the nation’s energy needs in a cost-effective, environmentally friendly way.”
“eSolar is honored to be placed in the company of industry leaders that are working to advance CSP’s market-readiness,” said eSolar CEO John Van Scoter. “Together with B&W PGG, we will accelerate the research and development of economic storage solutions for CSP critical to the industry’s next stage of growth.”
The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.