TOKYO — Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd plans to commercialize as early as 2015 the world’s first solar thermal power generation system that does not require water during its power generation, company officials said Tuesday. The system will enable electricity generation in deserts and cut power production costs by 20 to 30% from levels for conventional systems, they said.
Conventional solar thermal power generation systems need water as the sun’s thermal energy collected through mirrors and other special boards is used to boil and evaporate water to spin turbines for generating electricity. The new solar thermal power system will spin turbines by heating compressed air with solar thermal energy. Since the new system does not require water or pumps, its structure can be simpler.
The company plans to cooperate with an Australian research institution to develop the new power generation system, with an eye to beginning operations of a demonstration plant in 2013.
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