MUNI UTILITY TO ADD SOLAR TO NAT GAS PLANT

Sacramento Utility to Launch Concentrating Solar Power-Natural Gas Project

October 31, 2013 (U.S. Department of Energy)

“…[A] new concentrating solar power (CSP) project led by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)…will integrate utility-scale CSP technology with SMUD’s 500-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired Cosumnes Power Plant. Supported by a $10 million Energy Department investment, this project will help design, build and test cost-competitive CSP-fossil fuel power generating systems in the United States…Hybrid systems couple traditional fossil fuel-powered plants with CSP technology…and marry baseload power with new, cost-effective capacity…[B]etween 11 and 21 gigawatts of CSP could be built and integrated into existing fossil fuel plants in the United States…[The SMUD project]…will feed solar-produced steam directly into the plant’s turbines – generating at least 10 MW of new electric generation capacity. The project will include energy storage technology to improve system performance and meet peak and off-peak power needs…” click here for more

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