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Contact:
Keith Takahashi |
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Contact:
Keith Takahashi |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
97-61
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., March 10, 1997
-- A partnership of McDonnell Douglas, Ormat Industries Ltd.,
Rotem Industries Ltd., Weizmann Institute of Science through its
commercial arm, Yeda Research and Development Ltd., has been awarded
$5.3 million by the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission
(USISTC) to demonstrate the commercial feasibility of an advanced
solar-power plant capable of generating hundreds of kilowatts
to tens of megawatts of power.
The U.S.-Israeli system uses an
innovative air receiver and special optics developed by the Weizmann
Institute to reflect, concentrate and convert sunlight to provide
the high temperatures necessary to directly power gas turbines
in a combined cycle to generate electricity. The flexibility to
operate either solar, gas, or a combination of solar and gas will
provide operational flexibility that will guarantee electricity
even during inclement weather and has the potential of wide international
applications. The combined cycle approach assures higher efficiency
in all modes of operation.
In less than three years, the
McDonnell Douglas-Israeli team will develop an operational 300-400
kilowatt system located at the Weizmann Institute solar test facility
in Israel. This system will be equipped with highly reflective
mirrors (heliostats), which track the sun in two axes and reflect
sunlight up to another reflector atop a central tower. The reflector
will redirect the sunlight back to an air receiver on the ground
which will directly convert highly concentrated sunlight into
heat and act as an external combustor for a gas turbine.
"Unlike present solar power
generation plants, the U.S.-Israeli design will permit the flexibility
of operating directly from solar energy, directly from gas, or
in combination between solar and gas at the highest efficiency,"
said Dr. Robert Drubka, program manager for McDonnell Douglas.
"McDonnell Douglas is pleased
to be a member of a team that will work cooperatively to make
full use of the technology breakthroughs developed independently
by each nation," Drubka commented.
"We are proud that this new
solar energy technology is being created in Alabama through a
joint venture between the government of Israel and McDonnell Douglas,"
said Governor Fob James of Alabama. "McDonnell Douglas has
been doing business in Alabama for more than 50 years, and we
look forward to a continued relationship."
In 1993, President Clinton and
the late Prime Minister Rabin announced the creation of the USISTC
to enhance cooperation and create technology-based jobs for the
21st century. Each nation committed $15 million over the next
three years to fund technologically innovative projects that will
produce significant economic benefits. Efforts of the USISTC are
coordinated by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Israel's Ministry
of Industry and Trade.
The McDonnell Douglas-Israeli
team was earlier awarded $100,000 by USISTC to provide a conceptual
design for the solar central receiver system and to assess the
commercial market potential. McDonnell Douglas previously developed
the 10 megawatt Solar One solar power generation demonstration
plant using a heliostat field to reflect sunlight to a receiver
mounted on a central tower to produce steam for a steam turbine
in the Mojave Desert during the 1980s.
McDonnell Douglas is the team
leader and responsible for system engineering and integration,
heliostat field, master control system, tower and tower reflector.
Ormat is responsible for the power
conversion system and the fluid loop integration. Ormat specializes
in the design, manufacture and worldwide installation of innovative
power systems and plants, including 350 MW of renewable energy
(geothermal and solar).
Rotem is responsible for the air
receiver and its associated optics which transforms the concentrated
solar energy into high pressure, high temperature air.
The Weizmann Institute -- a center
of scientific research and graduate study -- and Yeda are responsible
for the transfer of unique solar technologies to industry. The
prototype system will be set up at the Institute's solar research
facility. Since the construction of this facility some 10 years
ago, Weizmann has accumulated significant experience in the development
and utilization of highly concentrated solar energy.