Israel’s sparsely-populated Negev Desert will become home to a 110 MW concentrated solar power plant after the USA’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) approved a $250 million loan to the consortium behind the project.
Negev Energy, a subsidiary of Spanish solar giant, Abengoa, was last year chosen to develop the facility in the Ashalim area of the Negev Desert, one of the least-developed areas in Israel.
The announcement marks the first time OPIC has granted a loan to a CSP plant, and forms part of OPIC’s and the Obama Administration’s wider goals to increase support for renewable energy projects around the world.
According to a statement from OPIC, the Negev plant won the loan because it will incorporate the latest in efficient thermal storage technology, giving it a capacity nearly twice that of a photovoltaic power station.
“This project advances one of OPIC’s key strategic priorities to support the development of renewable resources, and also uses an innovative solar technology,” said Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC’s President and CEO.
“The concentrated solar power design used for this plant is exciting, cutting-edge technology that can dramatically increase power generation. This is a project that shows how to provide a tremendously effective source of clean energy in a region dependent on fossil fuel.”
The Negev CSP plant will use solar trough technology to generate power. Solar trough plants collect solar energy using large mirrors that follow the sun and concentrate its energy onto heat absorbing tubes that carry a special fluid. This fluid can reach temperatures exceeding 380 degrees Celsius. The thermal energy is then used to create steam that drives an electric turbine. Some of the heat can be stored in molten salt thermal tanks in order to use it later to generate steam and produce electricity.
Construction of the facility at Ashalim is expected to begin this year and Negev Energy will employ hundreds of workers during the building and operational phases.
