A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors.
A parabolic trough is a type of solar thermal collector that is straight in one dimension and curved as a parabola in the other two, lined with a polished metal mirror. The sunlight which enters the mirror parallel to its plane of symmetry is focused along the focal line, where objects are positioned that are intended to be heated. In a solar cooker, for example, food is placed at the focal line of a trough, which is cooked when the trough is aimed so the Sun is in its plane of symmetry.
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is the leading exploration and production company in the Sultanate of Oman. The Company delivers the majority of the country's crude oil production and natural gas supply. The Company is owned by the Government of Oman, Royal Dutch Shell (34%), Total (4%) and Partex (2%). The first economic oil find was made in 1962, and the first oil consignment was exported in 1967.
India is the third largest producer of electricity in the world. The national electric grid in India has an installed capacity of 403.759 GW as of 30 June 2022. Renewable power plants, which also include large hydroelectric plants, constitute 39.2 % of total installed capacity. During the fiscal year (FY) 2019–20, the gross electricity generated by utilities in India was 1,383.5 TWh and the total electricity generation in the country was 1,598 TWh. The gross electricity consumption in FY2019 was 1,208 kWh per capita. In FY2015, electric energy consumption in agriculture was recorded as being the highest (17.89%) worldwide. The per capita electricity consumption is low compared to most other countries despite India having a low electricity tariff.
Nevada Solar One is a concentrated solar power plant, with a nominal capacity of 64 MW and maximum steam turbine power output up to 72 MW net (75 MW gross), spread over an area of 400 acres (160 ha). The projected CO2 emissions avoided is equivalent to taking approximately 20,000 cars off the road. The project required an investment of $266 million USD, and the project officially went into operation in June 2007. Electricity production is estimated to be 134 GWh (gigawatt hours) per year.
Enhanced oil recovery, also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir's oil, compared to 20% to 40% using primary and secondary recovery. According to the US Department of Energy, carbon dioxide and water are injected along with one of three EOR techniques: thermal injection, gas injection, and chemical injection. More advanced, speculative EOR techniques are sometimes called quaternary recovery.
The energy policy of India is to increase energy in India and reduce energy poverty, with more focus on developing alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind energy. India attained 63% overall energy self-sufficiency in 2017. The primary energy consumption in India grew by 2.3% in 2019 and is the third biggest after China and USA with 5.8% global share. The total primary energy consumption from coal (452.2 Mtoe; 45.88%), crude oil (239.1 Mtoe; 29.55%), natural gas (49.9 Mtoe; 6.17%), nuclear energy (8.8 Mtoe; 1.09%), hydro electricity (31.6 Mtoe; 3.91%) and renewable power (27.5 Mtoe; 3.40%) is 809.2 Mtoe (excluding traditional biomass use) in the calendar year 2018. In 2018, India's net imports are nearly 205.3 million tons of crude oil and its products, 26.3 Mtoe of LNG and 141.7 Mtoe coal totaling to 373.3 Mtoe of primary energy which is equal to 46.13% of total primary energy consumption. India is largely dependent on fossil fuel imports to meet its energy demands – by 2030, India's dependence on energy imports is expected to exceed 53% of the country's total energy consumption. About 80% of India's electricity generation is from fossil fuels. India is surplus in electricity generation and also marginal exporter of electricity in 2017. Since the end of calendar year 2015, huge power generation capacity has been idling for want of electricity demand. India ranks second after China in renewables production with 208.7 Mtoe in 2016. The carbon intensity in India was 0.29 kg of CO2 per kWhe in 2016 which is more than that of USA, China and EU.
There are several solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which supply power to the electricity grid. Insolation in the Mojave Desert is among the best available in the United States, and some significant population centers are located in the area. These plants can generally be built in a few years because solar plants are built almost entirely with modular, readily available materials. Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which were built in the 1980s, the first commercial solar plant. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts (MW) which made them the largest solar power installation in the world, until Ivanpah Solar Power Facility was finished in 2014.
Brazil is the 10th largest energy consumer in the world and the largest in South America. At the same time, it is an important oil and gas producer in the region and the world's second largest ethanol fuel producer. The government agencies responsible for energy policy are the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE), the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and the National Agency of Electricity (ANEEL). State-owned companies Petrobras and Eletrobras are the major players in Brazil's energy sector, as well as Latin America's.
Ensuring adequate energy supply to sustain economic growth has been a core concern of the Chinese government since 1949. The country is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and coal in China is a major cause of global warming. However, from 2010 to 2015 China reduced energy consumption per unit of GDP by 18%, and CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 20%. On a per-capita basis, it was the world's 51st largest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2016. China is also the world's largest renewable energy producer. China is the largest producer of hydroelectricity, solar power and wind power in the world. The energy policy of China is connected to its industrial policy. The goals of China's industrial policy dictate its energy needs.
Ghana generates electric power from hydropower, fossil-fuel, and renewable energy sources. Electricity generation is one of the key factors in order to achieve the development of the Ghanaian national economy, with aggressive and rapid industrialisation; Ghana's national electric energy consumption was 265 kilowatt hours per capita in 2009.
Concentrated solar power systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto a receiver. Electricity is generated when the concentrated light is converted to heat, which drives a heat engine connected to an electrical power generator or powers a thermochemical reaction.
Solar Euromed is a high technology group based in France specialized in concentrated solar power technology, in activity from 2007 to 2016.
Solar thermal enhanced oil recovery is a form of thermal enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a technique applied by oil producers to extract more oil from maturing oil fields. Solar EOR uses solar thermal arrays to concentrate the sun's energy to heat water and generate steam. The steam is injected into an oil reservoir to reduce the viscosity, or thin, heavy crude thus facilitating its flow to the surface. Thermal recovery processes, also known as steam injection, have traditionally burned natural gas to produce steam. Solar EOR is proving to be a viable alternative to gas-fired steam production for the oil industry. Solar EOR can generate the same quality steam as natural gas, reaching temperatures up to 750 °F (400 °C) and 2,500 PSI.
Energy use in Oman was 381 TWh in 2020, almost double the consumption in 2010.
GlassPoint Solar is a private company founded in 2009 that designs and manufactures solar steam generators which use solar thermal technology to generate steam for industrial processes.
Cerro Dominador Solar Power Plant is a 210-megawatt (MW) combined concentrated solar power and photovoltaic plant located in the commune of María Elena in the Antofagasta Region of Chile, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) west-northwest of Sierra Gorda. The project was approved by the Chilean government in 2013 and construction was started by Abengoa Solar Chile, a branch of the multinational Abengoa Spain. The plant was inaugurated on June 8, 2021. A follow up project called Likana Solar bid $33.99/MWh in an auction in August 2021.
Termosolar Borges is a hybrid biomass-parabolic trough solar thermal power plant which provides electricity to Spain's transmission system. It is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Barcelona, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-east of Lleida, near Les Borges Blanques, Catalonia, Spain.
Belridge Solar is an enhanced oil recovery facility that is currently being developed in the South Belridge Oil Field and, when complete, will be California’s largest solar energy field. It is a joint project between Aera Energy and GlassPoint Solar. It will be the first in the world to incorporate solar steam generation with solar electricity generation. These technologies will be leveraged to reduce costs for the traditional oil and gas company while at the same time reducing emitted carbon and increasing local air quality.
