EnergyBiz - November/December 2007 - (Page 46)

» GuIDe&souRCeBook to develop new technologies so that they may be deployed to support the operation of current nuclear power plants and next-generation advanced light water reactors. RenewABLes The most popular renewable energy resource, wind power, has become under increasing cost pressures caused by its popularity and the inability of the supply chain to fully meet demand for construction materials. Another issue has been the apparent logistical limits being reached for land-based systems. Moving blades and towers away from ports and factories to remote locations has been a challenge for many developers. With units now exceeding 2 megawatts, the efficiency gains must come from reduced failures and greater capacity factors. An industry average of less than 30 percent needs to approach 40 percent. One way to increase the capacity factor and to address the size constraints to land-based systems is the move to offshore sites, areas of greater wind capacity with larger turbines and lighter blade materials, which could reduce costs. The Electric Power Research Institute last year estimated that wind power would cost an average of $75 dollars per megawatt-hour in 2020. Tidal power is also in its infancy, with projects in the United Kingdom that are more advanced than counterparts in the United States. A demonstration project in New York (GENEraTION TEchNOlOGIES) City is underway but the technology is in its infancy. Biomass may be limited as an energy source, due to the limit to the amount of organic material that can be used for electricity generation, but it has some support in states with renewable portfolio standards. Solar power’s current cost of 30 cents per kilowatt has hampered its acceptance, similar to the way wind was hampered when its cost was that prohibitive. “Silica wafer technology is proven technology,” says Ed Lowe, GE’s general manager of renewable and gasification markets for energy. He says the company has continued its investment as a sign of its confidence in solar’s viability in the long term. “We have looked at solar thermal and have worked closely with companies in that sector,” says Siemens’ Holt. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s thermal storage materials laboratory is helping to develop advanced heat transfer fluids for the next generation of parabolic trough systems. The goal is to identify fluids with thermal and oxidative stabilities that can withstand extreme operating conditions, such as temperatures up to 425 degrees C while remaining liquid at or below 0 degrees C, and that can function as advanced thermal storage media. But solar still has some distance to travel as a popular energy source, as EPRI finds that at a projected future cost of $160 per megawatt-hour, it would not be competitive enough for central electricity production by 2020. 46 E n E rgyB i z November/December 2007 http://www.zolotech.com http://www.zolotech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EnergyBiz - November/December 2007

EnergyBiz - November/December 2007 Contents Continental Grid Vision Needed Readers’ Views and Opinions Next for National Grid Clearing the Air The Need for Nuclear Energy Trade Status Report The Innovators California On The Leading Edge FERC Sparks Change Getting Coal Right Leadership in Times of Turmoil Innovation Delivers Return A Tale of Two IPOs LNGs Bright Prospects Generation Techologies The Age of Superconductors Leaders with Vision Get Ready for Plug-in Hybrids Betting on Batteries Cost of Decarbonizing Nuclear Helmsman – A chat with Dale Klein, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Global Energy Snapshot; Low-Income Energy Help; IT Spending Robust; The Greening of State Regulators; Generating Support Simplifying Offshore Wind Regs Chasing Construction Costs Energy Agency Sets New Course Deregulation Means Higher Rates Go-To Staffer Nightmare in Manhatten

EnergyBiz - November/December 2007

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