GE Energy has announced it will buy into a minority share agreement with California-based eSolar, manufacturer of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, a move the company hopes will give it a leading edge in the global solar revolution.
The deal gives GE exclusive rights to eSolar’s Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) technology, a system that combines a gas-powered turbine with a CSP facility whereby a field of mirrors focus sunlight onto a collection point on a tower to produce high-temperature steam. The ISCC plant collects steam generated by the solar field and feeds it back into the plant’s turbines, creating more electricity without the need for added gas.
GE says it plans to incorporate eSolar’s proven technology with its recently unveiled gas turbine power plant, the FlexEfficiency 50, which is designed to supplement power to solar and wind energy facilities.
“FlexEfficiency 50 can reach more than 61 percent thermal efficiency. With the eSolar power tower add-on, an ISCC plant provides the capability to achieve better than 70 percent fuel efficiency, while providing reliable power, day or night,” says Paul Browning, CEO of Thermal Products for GE Energy.
Browning says the merger with eSolar is part of the company’s investment in the long-term future of innovative renewable energy.
“We developed the FlexEfficiency 50 Combined Cycle Power Plant to enable more renewables to come on the grid and to improve power plant efficiency. Our investment in eSolar is another step in our journey to transform the energy industry.”
While not disclosing the terms of the agreement, GE says Turkish company Metcap Energy will also become an investment partner in the deal, ensuring potential growth markets in the Middle East and Africa.
In a release published earlier today, the two companies announced a project to produce the world’s first Integrated Renewables Combined Cycle (IRCC) Power Plant; combining GE’s FlexEfficiency technology, 22 MW of GE wind turbines and 50 MW of eSolar concentrated solar thermal tower technology
