Vast Solar has executed a letter of intent (LOI) with German energy company Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG for potential offtake and equity investment in Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), Vast’s world-first green methanol demonstration plant. Vast is a concentrated solar power (CSP) technology and project developer, which boasts technology to [...]
IEA forecasts deployment of up to 430GW of new Concentrated Solar Power capacity globally by 2050 for on-grid applications alone. Vast Solar going public via a merger with Nabors Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: NETC). NETC is the only SPAC focused on energy transition with a major corporate backer. Vast Solar [...]
In sunny locations, solar power can sometimes produce too much electricity for the grid. Australian company RayGen hopes to solve this problem by combining its hi-tech solar systems with thermal storage, as Richard Stevenson reports. Hybrid hope RayGen's first power plant, near Carwarp in Australia, makes use of its new [...]
Australia’s transition to renewables is gathering speed, but there’s a looming problem with storage. We will need much more long-duration storage to get us through the night, once coal and fossil gas exit the system. We also need to find new and better ways to create heat for industrial processes. [...]
There was a time, not long ago, when the future of electricity generation looked something like the opening scene of Blade Runner 2049, with endless arrays of mirrors in concentric circles. Concentrated solar power (CSP) uses mirrors to focus heat from the Sun to drive a steam turbine and generate [...]
A thermal storage tank failure ended Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) development in the US. At the world’s first utility-scale Tower CSP project with storage, the molten salt thermal energy storage tank sprang a leak. SolarReserve’s Crescent Dunes 110 MW project was the only Tower CSP with thermal energy storage among [...]
The CSIRO Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap identifies Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) as the lowest cost technology for long-duration renewable energy storage, among the storage technologies required to reach net zero in Australia. The CSIRO Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap outlines the significant role that concentrating solar thermal power (often referred to as [...]
On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it has approved $65 million in funding to Vast Solar to construct VS1, a first-of-a-kind 30 MW / 288 MWh concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in Port Augusta, South Australia. ARENA’s funding for VS1 is conditional [...]
Renewable energy storage must undergo massive growth if Australia is to achieve net zero by 2050. A new report from the CSIRO and supported by ARENA funding, says between 10 to 14 times more storage could be needed in the coming decades to support the National Electricity Market (NEM). The [...]
It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you to participate in the SolarPACES 2023 International Conference to be held October 10-13, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. 2023 will be another challenging year for global energy supply and demand. Meeting all three requirements of energy supply – clean, reliable [...]
Australia’s clean energy industry received a boost after Vast, a leader in concentrated solar thermal power (CSP), announced today it will go public through a business combination with Nabors Energy Transition Corp. (NETC). While remaining headquartered in Australia, the combined entity will be named Vast and is expected to be [...]
Vast Solar has agreed to combine with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Nabors Industries (NBR.N) in a deal which will take the Australian company public in New York at a valuation of up to $586 million, the companies told Reuters. SPAC Nabors Energy Transition Corp (NETC.N) is [...]
Vast Solar has welcomed the Minister for Climate Change and Energy’s and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) announcement that it has approved funding of $65 million for VS1, Vast Solar’s 30MW/ 288MWh reference plant in Port Augusta, South Australia. The funding is another step forward for the project, which [...]
