AORA, a member of the E.D.I.G. Group and a developer of applied ultra-high temperature concentrating solar power technology, has begun construction on the world's first gas turbine solar thermal power station in Israel at Kibbutz Samar, located in Israel's southern Arava region.
AORA says its modular energy generating system is designed to require less land while generating more usable power and heat at a lower cost than that of 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.
The Samar power station, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of March, is situated on half an acre of land in Israel's Arava region and consists of a field of 30 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 C and direct this energy into the turbine, the company explains. The turbine will then convert this thermal energy into electric power that will be fed directly into the national grid.
SOURCE: AORA
