Department of Energy offered a conditional commitment for a $737m loan guarantee to support a 110 MW molten salt concentrating solar power (CSP) tower generating facility. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, sponsored by SolarReserve, will be the first of its kind in the United States and the tallest molten salt tower in the world. The project would be located in the northwest of Tonopah in Nevada.
The molten salt storage system allows the sun's thermal energy to be stored for up to ten hours, permitting steady, uninterrupted power during peak electricity demand, despite cloud cover, and even at night. This increases grid stability and reduces the need for carbon pollution emitting generators, which currently supplement intermittent renewable generation technologies during periods of no or low solar resource.
Power from the project will be sold to Nevada Power Company, a utility subsidiary of NV Energy and will help NV Energy meet its Renewable Portfolio Standard goals for Nevada as well as its evening load requirements.
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