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Solar Millennium Holds Talks With U.S. Coal Plants (Update2)
2010-08-11 13:15:47.171 GMT
(Adds estimate for industry growth in seventh paragraph.)
By Jeremy van Loon
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Solar Millennium AG, the German
maker of solar-energy systems, is holding talks with U.S.
operators of coal-fired power plants to sell them equipment for
reducing fuel use, management board member Henner Gladen said.
The potential buyers, based in the southwest, would install
its concentrated solar devices next to their power stations, he
said in an interview. Gladen declined to estimate the size of
deals or name companies in the talks.
"They are making their calculations on the price of coal
for the next few years and deciding if it will be cheaper to
invest in a solar field," said Gladen, who's also chief
technology officer. The company's 484-megawatt solar project
approved in July by the state of California may cost $3 billion
to build, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimate.
Solar Millennium develops and produces parabolic collectors
that concentrate sunlight using arrays of mirrors to make steam
and turn electric turbines. The U.S. southwest has some of the
world's highest solar radiation levels, and about nine
concentrated solar stations have operated there since the 1980s.
The Erlangen-based company joins other renewable energy
developers including France's Areva SA that are targeting the
market for solar-assisted coal plants. Areva, the world's
biggest builder of atomic reactors, is looking at South Africa
and India, both of which are big coal consumers, to sell its
concentrated solar systems, Anil Srivastava, who heads the
French company's renewable-energy division, said on June 10.
Sahara Desert
Solar-thermal plants are more competitive with power from
conventional electricity in the sunniest parts of the world,
such as the Sahara desert in Africa and the U.S. southwest, the
International Energy Agency said in May.
Global installed capacity of solar thermal could reach 30
gigawatts by 2020, from about a gigawatt now, according to a
study by consultant A.T. Kearney Inc. The U.S. has the most
number of projects planned.
Solar Millennium, with a market value of 276 million euros
($356 million), rose 0.3 percent to 22.07 euros at 3:09 p.m.
today in Germany as the Bloomberg Global Leaders Solar Index of
38 solar stocks fell 1 percent. That reduced the company's lost
this year to 38 percent. The index has lost 21 percent.
A lack of financing is holding back faster expansion of
concentrated solar, Gladen said. Investment in solar arrays
would be 30 percent to 40 percent cheaper if banks and lenders
extended the duration of loans to 30 or 40 years, instead of the
customary 20 years, and developers benefitted from higher
production and efficiency improvements, he estimated.
Cost Comparison
The current generation cost for concentrated solar power in
the U.S. is about 15 cents to 17 cents per kilowatt-hour. That
compares with about 4 cents to 5 cents for coal-generated
electricity for a kilowatt-hour, which typically can power a
washing machine for 60 minutes.
"There's lots of room for new financial tools, but banks
are overcautious at the moment," said Gladen.
Power from solar-thermal equipment may provide about 10
percent of the world's electric needs by 2050 given support from
governments, the IEA has said. By 2020, it will be able to
compete on price with power from more polluting fossil fuels at
times of peak usage during the day, the energy adviser said.
For Related News and Information:
Top renewable energy page: GREEN <GO>
Most-read solar news: MNI SOLAR <GO>
Emissions-trading stories: NI ECREDITS BN <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
--Editors: Todd White, Mike Anderson
To contact the reporters on this story:
Jeremy van Loon in Berlin at +49-30-70010-6231 or
jvanloon@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at +44-20-7330-7862 or landberg@bloomberg.net
