A huge one concentrated solar power plant in the Nevada desert, in the United States, in the past it stopped producing energy due to the defaults of the operators. However, for some time now it has started working again… at night.
It is called Crescent Dunes, it is located near Tonopah, Nevada, and was the first concentrated solar power plant in the world to use a central tower with energy storage thermal energy via full-scale molten salts, with a capacity of 110 MW.
In 2011, the $1 billion (892 million euro) project was presented as the largest thermodynamic power plant of its category. Citigroup and other financial companies have invested 140 million dollars in the promoting company, the SolarReserve startup.
In 2015 it began producing energy for the customer NV Energy, until 2020, when the contract was suspended, apparently due to non-compliance by SolarReserve. The company allegedly violated the original contract, and NV Energy was eager to get out.
This contributed to the startup’s bankruptcy and the end of its portfolio of projects developed in Australia, South Africa and Chile. In mid-2021, the project was restarted by EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Contracting) Cobra. Subsequently, a new owner arrived, ACS, a large multinational and one of the most important in the world. ACS previously owned Cobra, but later sold it to a French company, while still retaining ownership of Crescent Dunes.
Thanks to this new ownership, NV Energy is back as a customer, with a completely new contract. The plant has been criticized for its high production costs: $135 per MWh, compared to less than $30 per MWh for a common photovoltaic power plant. Although far from the initial objectives, in 2023 the plant generated 80,236 MWh. However, the peculiarity of this power station is its competitiveness during the night hours.
That’s why Crescent Dunes operates exclusively at night. DHW keeps the hot tank full during the day. Once filled, it sells what it produces and keeps the tank full for overnight use. During the night, the plant operates at full capacity. NV Energy requires solar energy at night because, during the day, it already has all the energy it needs thanks to photovoltaics. However, at night, even with spare batteries, the availability is not sufficient.
