Solar Renewable Technologies Conference: February 18, 2010

RMEL’s Solar Renewable Technologies Conference will be held on February 18, 2010 at the Denver Marriott South at Park Meadows in Littleton, CO.

Solar power is gaining a more diverse following among U.S. electric utilities, with demand in 2008 growing by over 100%. The extension of the solar energy tax credit in October 2008, which provides a credit to residential or commercial installations combined with the technological advances in the solar technology industry, has resulted in solar becoming the fastest growing renewable energy source. This conference will give process examples and results for existing solar projects along with the economics of adding this renewable technology.

Utility-scale photovoltaic power is experiencing rapid growth due to technology advancements and cost reduction. Kelly Beninga, Global Director of Renewable Energy at WorleyParsons Group, Inc. will start the day by talking about the technology options, siting and development issues and cost attributes of large scale photovoltaic systems as well as the operating characteristics of installed systems.

Hank Price, VP of the Technology Department at Abengoa Solar will then discuss how parabolic trough technology has been a major focus of Abengoa Solar’s research. Abengoa Solar is currently deploying parabolic troughs at the Solucar Platform outside of Seville, Spain, a collection of five 50MW plants. Hank will also talk about the requirements that should be analyzed when defining an installation.

The Sierra SunTower project is the only commercial solar tower project in the U.S. Don Ryan, Manager of Engineering & Estimating for Babcock & Wilcox Company will provide an overview of eSolar’s innovative solution for harnessing the sun’s energy. Don will also focus on the challenges of designing a shop assembled, truck shippable boiler capable of withstanding the rigors of daily on-off cycles and cloud transients.

Discussing Concentrated Solar Thermal Energy: Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector Technology is Bill Conlon, VP of Engineering at Ausra, Inc. Bill will talk about design philosophy and key benefits of CLFR Technology, give a CLFR Technology overview, steam generator design criteria, CLFR steam characteristics and solar steam generator safety. Also included are two solar steam generator and technology case studies.

In August 2009, SRP announced plans for a 1.5MW solar project in partnership with Tessera Solar. Lori Singleton, Manager of Sustainability Initiatives and Technologies at SRP, and Peter Wilt, Sr. Director of Development at Tessera Solar North America will talk about the Maricopa Solar Plant, which is the first commercial-scale solar facility built using SunCatcher™ concentrating solar-thermal technology. Lori will discuss this project as well as other solar initiatives for the utility. Peter will be discussing the SunCatcher technology.

Craig Turchi, Sr. Engineer at National Renewable Energy Laboratories will give a presentation on Thermal Energy Storage: Value and Approaches. Craig will review the current state-of-the art in thermal energy storage based on molten nitrate salts and focus on the value of thermal energy storage for energy reliability and grid integration. Trends in thermal energy storage research, including thermocline design and materials research will also be covered.

A final project briefing on the Escalante Station Solar Augmentation Study will be presented by Don Russell, Plant Manager at Tri-State Generation & Transmission Assn. Don will talk the impacts on plant design, operations as well as economics of adding a solar field to the Escalante Plant and various solar thermal technologies. Don presented on the project at the RMEL Generation Conference in 2009 and is returning to give an update.

Marty Smith, Manager of Communication Environmental Policy at Xcel Energy’s Cameo Plant will talk about the Cameo Power Plant’s Solar Integration Project. Marty will provide information on the background and current status of a 1MWe solar integration field demonstration project at the Cameo Power Plant. The presentation will also include project concept and objectives, project initiation activities, regulatory issues, construction status and post-demonstration options.

Larry Stoddard, Associate VP of Renewable Energy at Black & Veatch Corp., will wrap up the day by giving a presentation on Solar Project Development and Financing. Larry will give an Independent Engineer’s perspective on the development and financing of solar plants. This presentation will include topics such as site assessment and acquisition, resource assessment and validation, preliminary engineering and permitting, financial models and sources of finances.

All personnel involved in renewable program and project development and implementation, operations, planning, or maintenance of renewables are encouraged to attend. Those involved with generation plant siting, operations and management including new & existing renewable plants are also encouraged to attend.

Attendees will receive a continuing education certificate worth 6.0 Professional Development Hours.

For event registration and information, download a brochure at www.RMEL.org or call the RMEL office at (303) 865-5544.

Short URL: http://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/?p=839

Posted by admin on Jan 14 2010. Filed under Conferences, U.S.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry