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Nuclear company AREVA venturing into renewables

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(Can we trust AREVA to really promote renewable energy? – Christina Macpherson)

Areva’s strength is nuclear power–it is the world’s biggest nuclear company–but it is venturing into other carbon-free generation technologies.

Solar Thermal or Solar Photovoltaic? Areva Says ‘Both!’  – Forbes.com, 26 June 2010, Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of the French nuclear giant Areva, hinted last week during a meeting in Forbes offices that Areva is developing a hybrid solar power plant concept that combines a solar thermal system with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.
She declined to give details, but the plant is being developed by Areva Solar, the division made up largely of the solar thermal company Ausra that Areva bought in March. Ausra’s technology, similar to rival technology from start-ups eSolar, SolarReserve and Bright Source, uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight and beam it at water to heat it, turn it to steam, and generate electricity. Solar PV panels convert the sun’s rays directly into electricity.
Areva’s strength is nuclear power–it is the world’s biggest nuclear company–but it is venturing into other carbon-free generation technologies. It is developing giant off-shore wind turbines, biomass power plants (including projects in Florida and Washington with Duke Energy), and, with its Ausra acquisition, solar thermal power plants…………..

Solar thermal projects, however, are bigger than solar PV installations and they require more complicated engineering and design, the kind of projects Avena excels at. Areva would buy the panels for its hybrid solar power plant, though it is unclear how exactly Areva plants to integrate the electricity-generating panels with its solar-concentrating mirrors and steam system…..

Solar Thermal or Solar Photovoltaic? Areva Says ‘Both!’ « The Energy Source – Forbes.com

June 29, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, spinbuster | antinuclear, AREVA, climate change, France, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors, renewable energy, solar, wind