Solar hydropanels that can produce clean drinking water from the air alone, using a combination of solar PV with solar thermal technology, are to be trialled across Australia.
Indian energy firm Thermax and German concentrated solar power (CSP) company Frenell have been awarded a contract for what is claimed to be Asia’s first integrated solar thermal power plant by India’s largest utility NTPC.
Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) government has released draft proposals to help meet a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2025 partly through increased investment in renewables and energy efficiency.
Using PV, wind and CSP, a ‘Supergrid’ interconnecting North Africa and Europe could take both regions close to 100% renewable energy by 2050, but would require political will and ambitious market design, an expert at Fraunhofer ISE has said.
A hybrid power plant in Nevada, USA, which combines geothermal, PV and solar thermal power has been inaugurated and become the first of its kind to combine the three generation types.
Spain-based renewables firm Abengoa began insolvency proceedings yesterday after Gonvarri, an arm of industrial group Gestamp, decided against a plan to invest around EUR350 million (US$371 million) into the company.