Solar Electric Boilers to be Installed

DANVERS, Mass. & OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, announced today that it has signed a series of contracts with Riley Power Inc., a subsidiary of Babcock Power Inc., for three boilers to be operated at its 392-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California’s Mojave Desert. The Ivanpah project will couple Riley’s solar receiver steam generators with BrightSource Energy’s Luz Power Tower solar thermal technology to produce superheated steam of up to 550 degrees Celcius.“One of the core advantages of our Luz Power Tower technology is that it uses a conventional Rankine cycle to create the world’s highest temperature and highest capacity solar powered steam,” said Israel Kroizer, Chief Operating Officer, BrightSource Energy, and President of BrightSource Industries (Israel) Ltd. “By setting the bar for solar steam quality, we’re able to produce reliable and low-cost power that meets our customers’ needs.”

BrightSource Energy’s proven Luz Power Tower (LPT) technology produces electricity the same way as fossil fuel power plants – by creating high temperature steam to turn a conventional turbine. However, instead of using fossil fuels to create the steam, BrightSource uses thousands of mirrors called heliostats to reflect sunlight onto a boiler filled with water that sits atop a tower. When the sunlight hits the boiler, the water inside is heated and creates high temperature steam. The steam is then piped to a conventional turbine which generates electricity. In order to conserve water, the steam is then air-cooled and piped back into the system in a closed-loop, environmentally friendly process. This fully integrated approach takes advantage of high operating efficiencies and low capital costs to provide reliable and low-cost carbon-free energy.

Riley Power’s state-of-the-art solar receiver steam generators are based on their conventional and proven boiler technology. Each solar receiver steam generator is designed to produce superheated steam at high pressure and temperatures in order to generate hundreds of thousands of pounds per hour of superheated steam. “Our innovative technologies and decades of boiler experience are combining to provide BrightSource with a highly efficient solar boiler. Whether the heliostats are in full sunlight or varying cloud conditions, Riley’s solar boiler is designed to be robust and reliable,” stated Angelos Kokkinos, president of Riley Power Inc. “At Babcock Power we focus on providing our customers with innovative renewable energy solutions through our bpigreen® initiative, embracing a cleaner environment in everything we do.”

Babcock Power’s bpigreen® program focuses on new boilers, heat exchangers and air quality control systems in the “Green Power” Renewables markets, serving electric generating plants using biomass, waste-to-energy, thermal solar, and other renewable fuels.

About the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System

The approximately 3,600 acre project located in San Bernardino County, California, will consist of three separate solar thermal power plants and provide power under separate contracts with Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). PG&E will purchase approximately two-thirds of the power generated at Ivanpah and SCE will purchase approximately one-third. In all, BrightSource has contracted with PG&E and SCE to deliver 2,610 megawatts of electric power.

When constructed, the Ivanpah project will be the world’s largest solar power project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the U.S. today. Ivanpah will:

generate enough clean energy to power 140,000 homes
reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 400,000 tons annually, the equivalent of taking more than 70,000 cars off the road
provide more than 1,000 local union jobs at the peak of construction; 650 jobs annually on average for its three year construction period
provide $650 million in employee wages over its first 30-year life
BrightSource’s Ivanpah project has reached a number of significant milestones over the past six months. On August 12, the California Public Utilities Commission approved BrightSource’s contract with Southern California Edison for 117 MW of power to be produced at Ivanpah. On August 6, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for BrightSource’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. On August 4, the company announced that a California Energy Commission (CEC) siting committee issued a proposed decision recommending approval of the project. BrightSource expects to have all of the final permits to commence construction in fall 2010. In February, BrightSource received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of the Ivanpah project.

About BrightSource Energy, Inc.

BrightSource Energy, Inc. provides clean, reliable and low cost solar energy for utility and industrial companies worldwide. The BrightSource Energy team combines nearly three decades of experience designing, building and operating the world’s largest solar power plants with world-class project development capabilities. The company now has contracted to sell 2610 megawatts of power to be generated using its proprietary solar thermal technology. BrightSource Energy’s solar plants are designed to minimize their impact on the environment and help customers reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., BrightSource Energy is a privately held company with operations in the United States, Israel, and Australia. To learn more about BrightSource Energy and solar thermal energy, visit www.brightsourceenergy.com.

About Babcock Power Inc.

Babcock Power Inc., www.babcockpower.com, through its subsidiaries, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of technology, equipment, and services to the power generation industry. Babcock Power subsidiary companies include; Vogt Power International Inc. (Louisville, KY), Thermal Engineering International (USA) Inc. (Santa Fe Springs, CA), Babcock Power Environmental Inc., Riley Power Inc. and Babcock Power Services Inc. (Worcester, MA), Boiler Tube Company of America (Lyman, SC), and TEi Construction Services, Inc. (Duncan, SC).