“This partnership with Ferrostaal is a real coup for eSolar,” said John Van Scoter, CEO of eSolar. “Ferrostaal’s extensive construction capacity and expertise – particularly in the concentrated solar thermal field – together with eSolar’s award-winning technology, offers us the opportunity to rapidly construct solar power projects across the globe in coming years.”
eSolar unveiled Sierra SunTower, a 5 MW commercial-scale solar power plant, in the summer of 2009. Located in Lancaster, California, Sierra SunTower is the only power tower facility currently operating in North America. eSolar has continued the momentum of its international development with three licensing partnerships across three continents.
In eSolar’s tower technology, mirrors reflect sunlight onto a receiver mounted atop of a tower. The focused heat boils water within the receiver and generates high-temperature steam which powers a turbine to produce electricity. Tower technology is particularly efficient as this point focusing can reach much higher temperatures than other existing CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) technologies.
"We are delighted to expand our solar energy portfolio with eSolar’s proven technology,” said Dr. Klaus Lesker, Board Member at Ferrostaal. “eSolar is an innovative company setting ambitious cost and quality benchmarks. Their approach is an ideal complement to the engineering and contracting skills of Ferrostaal. Working with eSolar, we will be able to expand our portfolio of projects around the globe in places where modularity and speed of deployment are at a premium."
Through partnering with eSolar, Ferrostaal now adds solar power tower technology to its current concentrating solar thermal portfolio, which includes parabolic trough and Fresnel lens. By partnering with Ferrostaal, eSolar adds significant global reach through a partner with the experience and financial strength to execute projects rapidly.
eSolar is an Idealab company founded in 2007 to develop modular and scalable solar thermal power plant technology. In the summer of 2009, eSolar unveiled the 5 MW Sierra SunTower Plant, the only commercial CSP tower facility in North America. The eSolar solution marries a low-impact, pre-fabricated form factor with advanced computer software engineering to meet the demand for reliable and cost-competitive solar energy. eSolar’s proprietary solution resolves issues of price, scalability, speed of deployment and grid impact that have historically stymied solar thermal adoption, thus affording dramatic reductions in the cost of solar thermal energy. eSolar is based in Pasadena, California.
Ferrostaal AG, Essen, is a global provider of industrial services in plant construction and engineering. As a general contractor in plant construction, the company offers project development, project management and financial planning for turnkey installations, including petrochemical plants, gas and solar power stations, oil and gas installations, biofuels and industrial plants. Ferrostaal operates as an independent sales and service partner for machine and systems manufacturers in the automotive, printing and packaging machinery, piping and marine construction sectors, and employs around 5,700 people in 60 different countries. In 2008, its annual turnover amounted to 1.6 billion Euros. 70% of the shares in Ferrostaal AG are held by the International Petroleum Investment Company from Abu Dhabi (IPIC), while 30% are owned by MAN AG (Munich, Germany).
