SUMMARY:
The contracts
to purchase
electricity
from the
frequently broken
Crescent Dunes
solar plant
will be voided.
Climate alarmists
are spinning
this failed
solar energy
experiment
as being obsolete
technology, versus
modern photovoltaic
cell solar panels.
The more important
message, completely
ignored by the
mainstream media,
is that an inexpensive,
and safe, way to store
solar energy generated
during the day, for use
at night, does not exist.
DETAILS:
Crescent Dunes
stores energy
in the form
of molten salts.
Incoming sunshine
during the day
is concentrated
by motorized mirrors,
aiming the sunlight
at a central tower.
Inside the tower,
liquid salts are heated
to a high temperature.
The hot salts
are stored
in a large tank.
When power is needed,
after the sun goes down,
heat from the tank
is used to make steam,
and the steam drives
a turbine-generator,
which makes electricity.
Crescent Dunes
was plagued
by leaks in the
salt tank.
It would close for
months at a time.
The electricity
was sold to
NV Energy for $135
per megawatt-hour,
about SIX times
as much as
generating the same
amount of electricity
in existing Nevada
natural gas plants.
Crescent Dunes
was eligible for
usual government
subsidies, amounting
to around 75% of the
construction cost.
It was granted
a $700-million
government
loan guarantee.
It was an attempt
to fix the problem,
that solar energy
doesn’t work well
late in the day,
and not at all
after sunset.
Even in very
sunny Nevada,
natural gas plants
have to remain open
-- they are needed
when solar energy
stops working,
because of clouds,
and after sunset.
Without subsidies,
even the cheaper
photovoltaic solar
farms cost
about $80
per megawatt-hour
to generate solar
electricity.
Versus existing
natural gas plants,
at about $20 or $25
per megawatt-hour.
Massive government
subsidies make solar
seem cheaper than
it really is.
James Hansen,
the infamous scientist
who ramped up the global
warming scare in the 1980s,
says renewable energy
is a poor solution for
reducing CO2 emissions.
Reason:
Too expensive -- it costs
$140 per ton of emissions
prevented, by using solar.
Hansen advocates
nuclear energy.
Nevada has
a law requiring
that 50%
of the electricity
must come from
renewable sources
by 2030.
Tom Steyer, California
billionaire, and global
warming fanatic,
is funding an initiative
to put a 50% renewable
electricity requirement,
by 2030, into the Nevada
state constitution.
The final vote on the
constitutional amendment
will be in November 2020.
The current law
was passed by
the legislature,
meaning it could
easily be changed
in the future.
Long-term investors
in solar energy
don't want the risk
of that law changing.
They want a stronger
assurance that the
50% renewable
requirement won't
change.
CONCLUSION:
Crescent Dunes
was a serious project.
During the Las Vegas
really hot summer,
their air-conditioners
are running full blast
as temperatures soar
well past 100 degrees
in the late afternoon.
A method of storing
midday solar energy
for use after people
arrived home
from work
was needed.
One method
is to use
batteries.
They are VERY expensive,
and quite dangerous.
Flammable batteries store
a huge amount of energy.
But that’s not stopping
the Gemini project,
at a site north of
Las Vegas.
Gemini Solar will have
a $500-million battery
system that stores
as much energy as
5 million sticks
of dynamite
( 1,400 megawatt-hours ).
Note:
There have been
dozens of fires
at similar installations
around the world.