Stillwater – Enel Green Power’s Stillwater plant in the USA brings together PV solar, geothermal and solar thermal power and is an example of how to combine renewable energy technologies in a way that improves efficiency, sustainability and protects the environment. Its excellence has attracted the interest of research bodies across the USA, and has led to the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between EGP, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) that under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Energy Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), will see the plant’s potential explored. As part of this agreement, starting from next year EGP, NREL, INL and GTO will work jointly to model the combination of geothermal and concentrated solar systems, corroborating simulated results with real operational data from the Stillwater facility. The results of this activity will be used to look into and quantify the potential benefits of different operational strategies and integration models, with the aim of paving the way for the development of new hybrid plants running on renewable energy. (9colonne)
