Enel GP, at the start of the solar-thermal Stillwater – Il Sole 24 Ore

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This article was published March 27, 2016 at 8:11.

Stillwater is the pioneering outpost in the generation of electric energy of the future which Enel Green Power has implanted in the heart of the Nevada desert, near the Navy Fighter Weapons School , best known as the basis of Top Gun. Stillwater next Tuesday will be an important step in the journey of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the United States, where he will be welcomed by the ad Enel, Francesco Starace, and served by the Enel Green Power, Francesco Vetturini and innovation manager of the company, Richard Amoroso.

the company of the Enel group renewables began to exploit the geothermal potential of the area since 2009, creating a facility capable of generating 33.1 megawatts of electricity. A few years later, in 2012, completed the construction of a photovoltaic system, therefore, powered with solar panels, with a capacity of 26.4 megawatts, with a twofold objective: to counterbalance the geothermal power plant capacity in the period – the most hot and dry – in which the yield is lower, while it is maximum for the generation with the panels and thus reduce the intermittent generation. And make synergies in terms of investments and costs.

Then, in 2015, a new element that has turned this innovation model for the combination of different renewable technologies in the first event of the worldwide success of the combination of three different technologies (hybridization) with the last , installed the last year, the result of an in-depth insight in the context of a research and development agreement with the National Renewable energy Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, under the supervision of the office geothermal technologies US Department of energy.

The news, which will be inaugurated on the occasion of the visit of Renzi is a solar thermal system, essentially a mirror able to convey the warmth of the sun on a manifold system within which passes hot thermal fluid that is used to generate energy. The process of generating energy through the door with her physiological geothermal power reductions related to the reintroduction of the fluid, once tapped, cold underground. The trick of the further heating of the fluid with the solar rays allows not only to recover but also to increase the efficiency of the plant. The mirror system was installed last year: a study conducted between March and December 2015 showed that the integration of the solar thermal system with 2 megawatts to 33.1 megawatts from geothermal made it possible to increase production Stillwater 3.6 percent.

it is no coincidence that the Stillwater plant, total cost $ 290 million, has been awarded the Geothermal Energy Association Honors in the “technological progress” for four consecutive years, in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Stillwater today constitutes a real innovation hub for Enel Green Power: the diversification of technologies and the combination of these is an important part of the company’s strategy, which already has six plants in sull’ibridizzazione based world. The three technologies developed model in Stillwater is now destined to be exported: the target countries are the United States, Chile and Italy. €

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