AREVA has announced that 14-year company veteran Bill Gallo will become Chief Executive Officer of AREVA Solar, the group’s global solar business unit headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., effective March 1.

Gallo currently serves as President and CEO of AREVA Federal Services, where he has overseen the establishment and growth of this 500-employee company focused on public sector contracts.

AREVA Solar designs, manufactures and installs solar steam generators for its global power generation and industrial customers in a dependable, competitive and environmentally responsible manner.

AREVA’s CLFR solar thermal technology is water-conservative and the most land-efficient renewable energy technology available. This technology can improve a utility’s energy mix by either building new CO2-free plants or by boosting the capacity of existing plants with solar generated steam. AREVA concentrated solar power installations can also provide solar steam for a variety of industrial processes.

To learn more, check out this video on AREVA’s concentrated solar thermal energy plant Kimberlina in Bakersfield, Calif.—the first such plant linked to the Californian network for 20 years.

We applaud the progressive think tank the Third Way for their memo today supporting a national clean energy standard (CES) for the United States:

“Third Way proposes a national Clean Energy Standard to help overcome market failures that are restraining the deployment of clean energy sources like solar, wind, and nuclear power. A Clean Energy Standard would provide the certainty businesses have asked for and incorporate national energy goals into policy. It would build upon successful renewable energy standards enacted by 33 states, while providing the flexibility states and utilities need to make long term energy decisions that reflect their geographic regions….”

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Adding to AREVA’s renewable energy portfolio of offshore wind and bioenergies, AREVA acquired U.S. solar company Ausra in February. The California-based company is a provider of large-scale concentrated solar power solutions for electricity generation and industrial steam production.

More information on AREVA Solar’s Technology and a video tour of the facility is available here.

By Curtis Roberts

Even when pictures are worth a thousand words (see new solar video below), I still can’t help but say …

AREVA’s concentrated solar power technology is a proven, powerful, cost-effective, land-efficient, water-conservative solution for energy needs … with three key features:

1. Solar supersteam capability progressing from 750F to 900F
2. Durable design operating in up to 40-mile-an-hour winds
3. Rapid installation with basic materials: flat glass, steel, concrete,
   water

There … see for yourself in the new AREVA Solar video (below), and
then take a personal video tour.

The past seven days have offered a wealth of information on the inner workings of AREVA’s solar power technology.

“Solar Steam Boosters for Coal-fired Power Plants” … that’s a headline that will catch your attention, as will the detailed statistics on AREVA Solar’s supersteam solar technology capabilities in this month’s Power Engineering. From Average Hourly Steam Production and Average Hourly Gross Electricity Production charts to Steam Cycle diagrams and Solar Technology Land-Use Comparison graphic, this article has something for everyone. You have to dig a bit for the online article, page 178, but it’s well worth the excavation.

We also hosted Power Engineering Chief Editor, David Wagman, on a personal tour of AREVA Solar’s operating 5 MW CLFR development facility. Watch the video to see how this robust technology using basic steel, flat glass and water can generate 200 MW of electricity on only 1-square-mile of land.

And to top it all off, watch the animation video on how AREVA’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology works.

This article originally appear in North American Clean Energy magazine.

The potential for the concentrated solar power (CSP) industry to generate electricity has been discussed for years, but the ability to deliver on that potential has never been as good as it is today. The International Energy Agency reported in May 2010 that CSP could provide 11.3% of global electricity by 2050. Meanwhile, the market for CSP plants is expected to grow by 20% annually over the next decade, reaching an estimated installed capacity of more than 20 gigawatts by 2020. States like California and nations like Australia, India, and South Africa are establishing bold renewable energy goals that can only be met with significant input from CSP technologies. Clearly, there is a vast global market for CSP.
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Last February, AREVA fully aquired the California based, solar thermal company Ausra to create AREVA Solar. At the time we wrote that “this acquisition launches AREVA’s new global solar energy business” and “It reflects AREVA’s strategic objective to be the world leader in concentrated solar power ”

Here is a great interview with AREVA Solar CEO Robert Fishman where he discusses the mid-term road ahead for the new company.

If you are new to Solar technology acronyms, the article discusses CSP technologies (Concentrated Solar Power) and CLFR (Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector) which Ausra was a pioneer in. More info on AREVA Solar technologies can be found on the former Ausra site.

Read the whole thing, but here are some snippets:

CSP Today: Which markets do you anticipate will prove robust for Areva Solar’s technology in the medium-term: utility-scale electricity generation; steam augmentation; or industrial processes?

Bob Fishman: We see a lot of attractive near-term opportunities in the power augmentation or “booster” market. AREVA can install a solar field at existing natural gas-fired or coal-fired power plants to increase peak plant output without added emissions—or we can reduce emissions while maintaining the same output of the plant.

In comparing all CSP and PV solar technology options, AREVA Solar’s booster facilities are by far the most cost-effective solar offering in the market.

First, these projects integrate into an existing power block, eliminating a costly capital expense that requires a long lead-time. Secondly, these projects are more attractive to utility customers because they are moderately sized, can be deployed on land already owned by the power plant, and give utilities a good comfort level in both scale and cost. These are a logical step-up for customers in scale of deployment and an attractive transition into the utility-scale market.

At the same time, we are pursuing several utility-scale projects in key markets around the world.

Another attractive near-term market is for industrial process steam. Industries that require large amounts of steam (such as enhanced oil recovery, food processing or petrochemical refining) can utilize direct solar steam or hot water….

Environmentally, the benefits are clear. Utilities reduce fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions by adding solar steam generation. This turns into a financial benefit as well in locations that mandate emission constraints.

Additionally, using water as our working fluid for a direct steam offering with a closed loop system and dry cooling makes our technology more appealing for the arid locations that tend to be best suited for CSP technology. We also offer the highest land density design, resulting in a smaller environmental footprint.

CSP Today: What other major CSP projects are in Areva Solar’s project pipeline?

Bob Fishman: We are currently short-listed for Australia’s $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program. We are part of an energy consortium with Wind Prospect CWP Pty Ltd, CS Energy Ltd., and Mitsui & Co (Australia) Ltd that is seeking to develop, build and operate a standalone, 250MWe solar thermal power plant at Kogan Creek, near Chinchilla in Queensland. The power plant will incorporate AREVA Solar’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology.

AREVA Solar’s VP of Sales Jayesh Goyal talks with Jennifer Runyon, Renewable Energy World, about AREVA’s investment in CSP technology that has resulted in a better balance sheet for the company and better bankability for projects.

By Susan Hess

This question was the topic of a lively discussion at the 81st LULAC National convention held in Albuquerque, N.M.  The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) invited AREVA to speak at this important annual event about clean energy, including nuclear and renewables, to help educate their members about the truths and myths of this timely topic. 

Climate change and clean energy have been of growing interest over the past several years because of its direct and indirect impact on the Latino Community, which is now the largest and fastest growing minority population in the United States. For instance, children of Latino families develop asthma at a rate 2.5 times more than other minority and Caucasian children.  


The discussion covered renewable energy options such as offshore wind, biomass and solar power as well as nuclear energy. Understandably, several in the audience did not consider nuclear energy a “clean energy” source. Our discussion centered mostly on facts and fiction about nuclear energy, recycling used nuclear fuel, and how each voter can help to rebuild the nuclear energy industry by contacting their Congressional members and encouraging them to support increased nuclear energy in the United States. 

When the session ended, everyone appreciated the discussion and the new perspectives.  One person remarked, “I thought this was about clean energy.  It was mostly about nuclear energy. If you had said nuclear in the title of the session, I would not have attended, but I did.  I learned a lot and I am glad I came.”
 

By Bob Fishman, CEO, AREVA Solar


There’s a lot of buzz about the global opportunity for the concentrated solar power (CSP) industry. And there’s a great deal of excitement about the potential of CSP in the energy market.

As part of this excitement, over 100 solar industry professionals attending the CSP Today Summit visited our Kimberlina solar thermal power plant today to see firsthand our superheat steam technology in action.

But as I told them, our ability as an industry to transform this potential into a robust global market depends on our individual ability to be cost-competitive, reliable and bankable.

As a 30-year veteran of the power industry, I know there are three questions that power customers will ask about a CSP project. I’m confident the marketplace will reward CSP companies that can answer “Yes” to all three challenging questions:

1. Is your project bankable?
2. Do you have prices that you can deliver on?
3. Are your technology and commercial offerings backed by proven, reliable operating data that meet power and industrial customer needs?

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