Erlangen, Germany [RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Solar Millennium AG has entered into an agreement with Blue Tower GmbH to use Blue Tower’s conversion technology at its solar thermal plants. The goal is for Solar Millennium’s solar thermal power plants to work in hybrid operation around the clock.
Blue Tower’s technology uses renewable feedstocks to generate energy, which is mostly decompressed into gas and a minimum amount of solids by thermolysis. The resulting Blue Gas is refined to a climate-neutral product gas by reforming. The heat of reaction needed for thermolysis and reforming is gained mainly from the solid material. Blue Tower is a multi-feedstock technology that can process garden waste, roadside green cuttings, olive stones or chicken manure. Solar Millennium has bought a 76% stake in Blue Tower.
“A decisive advantage of solar thermal power plants when compared to other forms of renewable energy is the possibility to reduce power generation’s dependence on current availability of solar radiation by using thermal storage. With this, we can produce electricity when the sun isn’t shining, also in high demand periods. By joining solar thermal power generation with Blue Gas in hybrid operation, we can even add to the advantages by producing electricity round the clock in an economic, environmentally-friendly way,” said Christian Beltle, CEO of Solar Millennium.
