SCHOTT announced it will supply the solar thermal receivers for the massive Solargenics Energy plant to be constructed near the Hoover Dam in Boulder City, Nevada.
Schott received its first large volume order for 19,300 receivers which will form the heart of the parabolic trough power plant.
The 64 megawatt power plant is scheduled to begin providing energy to the grid in June of 2007 and will supply the energy needs of approximately 40,000 households.
Solar thermal power plants use the thermal energy produced by the sun to generate electricity. Also called a parabolic trough power plant, they consist of three main components: mirrors, receivers and turbine technology.
“The order for the power plant in Nevada established our company as a global leader in the area of receivers, in terms of both technology and position in the market,” said Dr. Ungeheuer, Chairman of the Management Board.
He also mentioned the acquisition of RWE’s 50 percent share in the former joint venture, RWE SCHOTT Solar, on October 1, 2005: “This acquisition and the order for the power plant in Nevada will really give our solar activities a major push forward. For SCHOTT, solar energy is an extremely important business for the future.”
This will be the first commercially operated solar thermal power plant to go into operation in 15 years. Nine parabolic trough power plants are already located in the Mojave Desert in California, which have produced a total of 354 megawatts of solar electricity. In 2004, SCHOTT introduced a completely new receiver that offers substantially higher quality. Now that the company has officially received the contract to deliver products for the power plant in Nevada, SCHOTT will set up series production at its site in Mitterteich, Germany.
Experts agree that the power plant in Nevada will provide an important impulse for the wide-spread adoption of solar thermal technology. Due to their high efficiency and their ability to produce electricity at low cost, parabolic trough power plants are an solution for supplying environmentally friendly power to regions exposed large amounts of sunlight. Additional projects are already being planned in both the U.S: and Southern Europe.
SCHOTT is an international technology group that sees its core purpose as the lasting improvement of living and working conditions. For this purpose special materials, components and systems are developed. The main areas of focus are the household appliances industry, optics and opto-electronics, pharmaceuticals and solar energy. The SCHOTT Group has a presence in proximity to its customers through its production and sales companies in all its major markets. It has approximately 17,000 employees producing worldwide sales of 2 billion euros. The company’s technological and economic expertise is closely linked with its social and ecological responsibility.
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