Falkland Islands To Be Powered By 40% Renewable Energy

 

Many of today's generation may not be familiar with the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.  
   
It's been over 25 years since the nation hit the headlines around the world while Argentina and the United Kingdom engaged in a bloody conflict for sovereignty over the region. 
    
The Falkland Islands are making headlines again, but on a more positive note. Already a wind energy generator, annual wind power production in the Falkland Islands is set to rise to 40 per cent with the installation of three new wind turbines. 
    
Prior to just a few years ago, energy was a major challenge for the region with farms relying solely on diesel generators for their power. Aside from issues relating to greenhouse gas emissions, given the Falkland Islands' location, this was expensive and only provided electricity for a few hours a day. 
    
The installation of the first three wind turbines in 2007 has resulted in the displacement of 26% of annual fuel consumption and the aim with the three new turbines is to reach 40% fuel displacement. 
    
At a recent European Union seminar, the Falklands were named in the leading group of Overseas Territories in terms of the percentage of electricity produced from renewable resources.
    
The Islands have also tried other forms of renewable energy including hydro-electric and solar power. While working well for smaller applications, these technologies don't match the performance or cost effectiveness of wind power due to the quality of wind resources in the region. Going forward, the Falklands will be examining the potential of modern energy storage and heat pump technologies to optimise wind power and further reduce the consumption of fossils fuels.
    

USD$1.37 Billion Loan Guarantee For Solar Thermal Farm

 

BrightSource Energy, Inc., yesterday announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has conditionally committed to provide $USD1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric System.
 
The Ivanpah project is a 400 megawatt solar farm comprised of three separate solar thermal power plants. 
 
In a solar thermal farm, solar panels are not used.  Solar thermal technology uses sunlight  reflected by thousands of small mirrors called heliostats onto a boiler filled with water that sits atop a tower. The focused sunlight raises the temperature of the water inside the boiler and creates high temperature steam, which is then piped to a conventional turbine which generates electricity. 
 
When constructed, The Ivanpah project will generate enough clean electricity to power 140,000 homes and will nearly double the amount of solar thermal energy capacity currently in the USA.  BrightSource Energy says the Ivanpah project will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually, which is the equivalent of taking more than 70,000 cars off the road. 
 
The Ivanpah Solar Power Complex  is located in California’s Mojave Desert, near Ivanpah, close to the California-Nevada border.
 
In order to conserve precious desert water, the Ivanpah project will use an air-cooling technology to convert the steam back into water in a closed-loop cycle, using 25 times less water than competing solar thermal technologies that employ wet-cooling. BrightSource will mount the heliostats on individual poles  placed directly into the ground, allowing the solar farm to be built around the natural contours of the land and avoid areas of sensitive plant species.
 
Commencement of construction on the first plant is scheduled for the second half of 2010 and the first plant is scheduled to come online in mid-2012.
 

News for Tuesday 23 February, 2010

 

• ACT Solar Buyers Group Free Information Sessions
  


• Solar Energy Could Power The Bloom Box?
  

View all news for Tuesday 23 February, 2010 on one page

Recent News

 

• Monday 22 February, 2010
  


• Friday 19 February, 2010
  


• Thursday 18 February, 2010
  


• Wednesday 17 February, 2010
  


• Tuesday 16 February, 2010
  

News archive