Massive Hybrid Solar Thermal-Biomass Project Coming to California
Pacific Gas & Electric has signed a contract with the renewables unit of Portuguese energy conglomerate Martifer to supply 106.8MW of solar thermal-biomass hybrid power to California by 2011.
Under the deal, two plants located near Coalinga in central California will provide enough energy to power 75,000 homes by combining solar thermal technology with steam turbines powered by gas from local agricultural waste and livestock manure.
The hybrid nature of the plants may help to win over critics of solar-thermal plants, who argue that the energy produced is too unreliable, since it relies on uninterrupted sunshine. Martifer’s hybrid technology will allow the plants to run on biomass during periods of cloud cover and overnight, ensuring consistency of supply.
According to Andrew Byrnes, one of the project’s developers, “When the sun is shining during peak hours, it will just be the solar facility. As the sun sets, biomass will be available to support the solar generation, and then at night the biomass will run purely on its own.”
Via Reuters, Treehugger