AREVA’s Kimberlina Plant Named a Renewable Top Plant by POWER Magazine
Posted on Dec 12, 2011 |
The Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Station (.pdf) in Bakersfield, Calif. was recently named a Renewable Top Plant by POWER Magazine. Owned and operated by AREVA Solar, Kimberlina utilizes Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology to generate power. Watch the video featuring Kimberlina and read more about the award.
By Angela Neville, JD
Situated in central California’s breadbasket region, Bakersfield is a key agricultural center and a center for petroleum extraction and refining. Now this area is harvesting another abundant resource: the sun’s energy.
The Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant, (initially developed by Ausra, which was purchased by AREVA Solar in February 2010), began operation in 2008 with its first three solar steam generators (SSGs), which used saturated steam boilers. Since 2009, the plant has operated with approximately 96% availability. In 2010, AREVA Solar constructed, commissioned, and began operating its fourth solar steam generator (SSG4) at the 5-MW Kimberlina facility in Bakersfield (Figure 1), which is the first to use direct steam compact linear Fresnel reflector (CLFR) technology, a type of concentrating solar power (CSP).
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| 1. Solar light and heat. The Kimberlina facility in Bakersfield features the first once-through, direct steam compact linear Fresnel reflector (CLFR) superheated solar steam generator. This major technology advancement drives down costs for stand-alone CLFR plants and improves the integration of solar resources with fossil-fired power plants for solar augmentation and solar/hybrid power applications. Courtesy: AREVA Solar |
“It uses the most advanced CLFR technology in the world,” Katherine Potter, vice president of communications for AREVA Solar, told POWER in October. The result is lower costs for stand-alone CLFR plants and easier integration of solar resources with fossil-fired power plants for solar augmentation and solar/hybrid power applications.
AREVA Solar was able to achieve direct steam generation through a proprietary model predictive control system that overcame the challenge associated with parabolic trough systems of temperature gradients in the absorber tubes and controllability of the two-phase water/steam flow.
Read the rest of the piece here.
