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10 November/December 2012 | Renewable Energy Focus

Sulzer Pumps wins CSP project deals

SULZER PUMPS is to supply

pumps for several concentrated

solar power (CSP) projects in

Spain and India, the Switzerland-

based company announced recently.

The scope of supply deals covers the

design, manufacture and installation

of cooling water pumps, feed water

pumps, condensate extraction pumps

and auxiliary pump packages. The

pumps will be manufactured and

packaged from Sulzer’s global manu-

facturing network and will be

installed in 2013 and 2014.

The company gave no specifi cs

about which projects it would be

supplying, but confi rmed it will

signifi cantly increase its share of the

CSP pump market in India, which is

embarking on a huge 1GW solar

installation programme, known as the

Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar

Mission (JNNSM). The fi rst phase of

the JNNSM aims to install around

1GW of both photovoltaic and CSP

projects by 2013, in an eff ort to secure

an electricity supply and shore up the

economy.

Meanwhile, Spain leads the way in

the global CSP market, accounting for

a massive 65% of total installed

capacity. In 2011, Spain had reached

over 1GW of installed CSP capacity.

Globally, Sulzer Pumps has sup-

plied more than 550 pumps for central

tower, parabolic trough, linear Fresnel

and hybrid integrated solar combine

cycle applications since 1985.

Funding for fuel cell and hydrogen

supply chain in UK announced

THE UK’S Technology Strategy Board is launching a pro-

gramme of funding for busi-

ness-led innovation to stimulate the

development of fuel cell and hydrogen

technologies, starting with two com-

petitions for feasibility studies. The

Technology Strategy Board, through

the Building Fuel Cell Manufacturing

and the Supply Chain competition, will

invest up to £5m (US$7.9m) through

grant funding to encourage the devel-

opment of manufacturing capabilities

and novel supply-chain partnerships

to support fuel cell production.

The aim is to enable businesses to

make step changes in fuel cell produc-

tion volumes and in lifetime cost

reduction, through the innovative

application of approaches and capabil-

ities available from other business

sectors or the academic community.

Up to £1 million ($1.6 million) is

available for feasibility studies that

explore the potential for innovative

ideas and new partnerships as a

precursor to further development. A

further £4 million ($6.3 million) will

then be available for collaborative

research and development, to take the

most promising ideas forward in a

second phase that will open once the

feasibility projects have concluded.

In a second competition, Supporting

European Collaboration in Fuel Cells

and Hydrogen, the Technology Strat-

egy Board will invest up to £1m in

feasibility studies to encourage

businesses working in fuel cell and

hydrogen technologies to explore

potential partnerships with EU

businesses, as a precursor to further

development. The aim is to facilitate

collaboration with potential European

partners to enable the development of

European supply chains, strengthen

access to markets, and increase the

level of UK business participation in

EU programmes.

The competitions opened on 26

November 2012, with the deadline for

registration set for 9 January 2013.

Applications must then be received by

16 January 2013.

Envision Solar unveils its fast deployment Solar Tree design

CALIFORNIAN COMPANY

Envision Solar has unveiled a

new improvement to its Solar

Tree Array design - a pre-engineered

purlin structure that it says will

allow the Solar Trees to be deployed

much more quickly. The company’s

Solar Tree array design comprises

solar panels which can be integrated

into real estate infrastructure, for

example used as a shading canopy in a

car park, or for use alongside electric

vehicle charging points, as well as pro-

viding electricity for nearby buildings.

The new purlin structure, which is

part of Envisions’s so-called “Drag and

Drop” modular infrastructure, off ers

faster, more effi cient deployment of

the Solar Tree array product, the

company says. “Drag & Drop Infra-

structure allows us to get in and out

of customer premises with the least

amount of disruption,” according to

Envision Solar’s chief executive

Desmond Wheatley. “Our customers

don’t want their parking lots dug up

for weeks at a time.”

It has recently completed a Solar

Tree array installation in a highly

complex environment in four and half

days, he said. “Our customers get the

value of the Solar Tree structures

right away and the speed of deploy-

ment helps them get the tax incen-

tives faster too.” The fi rst of these

structures were deployed in Colorado

and California for separate customers.

Because the sections are fabricated

off -site, the pre-engineered purlin

sections arrive at the customer site as

part of a complete kit.

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