Entwicklungen nach Fukushima - ESB-Radler

Carlos Rivera
(MBA 2008)
(USA) already filed for creditor protection and
many believe Q-Cells and Conergy (both Germany)
will follow soon;
ß Suntech Power (the world largest PV manufacturer)
has already announced losses for 2011.
It is clear that the PV industry is currently undergoing
a drastic consolidation. No sign of the expected solar
boom after Fukushima’s accident.
Thermoelectric (CSP)
Even though this technology uses the sun power, it
works much differently than PV. A special medium,
such as oil, water or molten salt, is heated up by the
sunlight. The heat in the medium is later used for driving
a turbine and producing electricity.
The main advantage of this technology lies within the
relatively cheap storage system, that can be integrated
easily: Projects Andasol 1, 2 and 3 in Spain already
provide 6 hours of storage capacity; Gemasolar (Spain)
is already capable of generating electricity for 24 hours
continuously – just from solar power. This has enormous
advantages for the electric power grid, since the
dispatch of the energy can be planned. However this
technology is currently more expensive than PV. And
this is the reason, why several projects in the US have
switched from CSP to PV, being Blythe Project (1.000
megawatt output power) the most striking one. To improve
commercial viability, the CSP industry is working
hard on cost reductions, regarded pivotal as far as the
competition against PV is concerned. The bankruptcy
of Solar Millennium shows how difficult this market
has become.
Like PV, CSP has been drastically hit by reductions in
the subventions from the Spanish Government (reducing
feed-in tariffs and limiting the amount of projects)
as well as from the US Government (the Loan Guarantee
Program ended last September). Meanwhile, four
big projects are being built in the US: Ivanpah (392
Since completing his MBA in 2008, Carlos Rivera Willeke is working in the area of
solar thermal power plants (CSP). Besides this professional interest, he pursues his
hobbies cooking and soccer and spends time with his growing family.
MW) by Brightsource, Solana (289 MW) and Mojave
Solar Project (250 MW) by Abengoa and Tonopah (110
MW) by Solar Reserve. Nevertheless, the future remains
very unclear. Can CSP engage in effective cost reduction
so that it can successfully compete? Like PV, there
has not been a solar boom for CSP projects after the
accident at Fukushima.
Despite of the current negative environment, the future
of the power generation belongs definitely to the renewable
energies, in which solar energy will play a
central role. The main question is, how fast can the
required technologies be developed, principally in
terms of grid stability and cost effectiveness.
Illustration of a Concentrating Solar Power Tower Plant
Copyright: U.S. Department of Energy / NREL 1996
Illustration of a Concentrator Solar Power Plant
(“Parabolic Trough Plant”)
Copyright: U.S. Department of Energy / NREL 1996
Schwerpunkt Erneuerbare Energien – Entwicklungen nach Fukushima 15