DOE announces funds for wind, solar

15 September 2011


The US government says that funding awards made to solar and wind energy technology development projects will help the country to improve energy security.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded more than $145 million to projects in the solar energy field, and $43 million to spur the development of offshore wind energy.

It has also finalized a $1.2 billion loan guarantee for a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant project in California.

The DOE has awarded 69 solar energy projects funding to help them make advances in efficiency and cost reduction as well as improve manufacturing processes and supply chains in the photovoltaic (PV) field. In the offshore wind sector, 41 projects will share funding aimed at reducing market barriers such as infrastructure, transmission and supply chain development.

“America is in a world race to produce cost-competitive renewable energy that can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, create manufacturing jobs across the nation, and improve our energy security,” said Secretary Chu. “The projects announced … under DOE’s SunShot Initiative will spur American innovation to help reduce the costs of clean, renewable solar energy and re-establish US global leadership in this fast growing industry.”

The SunShot Initiative seeks to make solar energy systems more cost-competitive, without long-term subsidies, by reducing costs by about 75 per cent by the end of the decade.

In California, the DOE has agreed a loan guarantee for the 250 MW Mojave Solar CSP project. The plant will increase the USA’s current installed capacity of CSP by 50 per cent and will be the first to feature Abengoa’s solar collector assembly (SCA) technology.

The SCA system was developed by Abengoa with funding assistance from the DOE. It includes a heat collection element that increases thermal efficiency by up to 30 per cent over first generation CSP plants.




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