AORA to Build Hybrid Solarized Gas Turbine Power Station
AORA (a member of the E.D.I.G. Group), a developer of applied ultra-high temperature concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, announced on Jan. 26 that it has begun construction on the world's first gas turbine solar thermal power station in Israel at Kibbutz Samar in Israel's southern Arava region.
The company's modular energy generating system is designed to require less land while generating more usable power and heat at a lower cost than other solar energy systems. The company's hybrid approach enables the system to run on solar radiation input, as well as almost any alternative fuel, including biogas, biodiesel, and natural gas. This enables various operation modes – from solar-only mode, where electricity is supplied when there is ample sunlight, to hybrid mode, where fuel helps generate electricity when sunlight is insufficient, such as at night or when it is cloudy, guaranteeing an uninterrupted green power supply 24 hours a day.
"We look forward to launching our station at the end of March," said Haim Fried, AORA's chief executive officer. "Our technology and scalable solutions can be easily customized for a variety of applications and environments. I believe this pre-production unit will be the first of many future installations worldwide."
The Samar power station is situated on half an acre of land in Israel's Arava region and consists of a field of 30 tracking mirrors (heliostats). Each heliostat will follow the sun and direct its rays towards the top of a 30 meter-high tower housing a special solar receiver along with a 100-KW gas turbine. The patented receiver will use the sun's energy to heat air to a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius and direct this energy into the turbine. The turbine will, in turn, convert this thermal energy into electric power that will be fed directly into the national grid.