Report to Congress on Assessment of Potential Impact of Concentrating Solar Power for Electriicty Generation (EPACT 2005--Section 934(c)) Page: 11 of 33
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for FY 2001 (made in February 2000) to $1.9 million for FY 2002 (made in February
2001) following the NRC's report. Every year, however, Congress has provided funding
levels above DOE's request and has required DOE to conduct additional assessments of
CSP.
DOE's 2002 CSP Report
Language in the FY 2002 Energy and Water Development Appropriation Bill directed
DOE to "scope out an initiative to fulfill the goal of having 1,000 MW of new parabolic
trough, power tower, and dish engine solar capacity supplying the Southwestern U.S. by
2006."29 In response, DOE prepared a report that summarized the CSP industry's
estimate of the conditions that would be required to build 1,000 MW of new CSP
capacity in the Southwest. This report was entitled "Feasibility of 1,000 Megawatts of
Solar Power in the Southwest: Report to Congress."30
Largely based on data from Luz International's construction of 354 MW of parabolic
troughs in California between 1984 and 1990, the solar industry indicated it could build
the 1,000 MW in a five-year period if between $1.5 and $2.0 billion in Federal and State
financial incentives were available over a 14-year period. The CSP industry felt the
technology was ready for large scale deployment. The industry provided a list of
possible incentives (e.g., a 30 percent investment tax credit, a 1.7 cent per kWh
production tax credit, and a solar energy loan guarantee program) that would enable it to
finance and build the solar power plants. DOE concurred in the industry's ability to build
the plants if the incentives were made available, but DOE did not support the Federal
government providing the cost of the subsidy that would be required. DOE doubted if it
could be done by 2006 because the industry's proposed incentives required enactment by
Congress and state legislatures. Moreover, even if Congress provided the CSP industry's
requested subsidies, significant installations by 2006 were unlikely because of the time
required for the incentives to be put in place and for industry to arrange financing and
obtain permits. Industry also indicated its opinion that the establishment of 1,000 MW of
CSP would enable the establishment of manufacturing capability and provide "learning
curve" cost reductions that could bring the cost of CSP to as low as 6 cents/kWh without
further incentives.31
The NRC and DOE assessments are in agreement that some level of government
intervention would be required for CSP to become economically feasible. Nevertheless,
the reports do contain fundamentally different assessments of the future of CSP, with the
NRC pessimistic that any CSP development would occur in the next 10 to 20 years and
the DOE optimistic that government incentives could spur development in the CSP
industry that would make it economically viable in the near future.
To resolve the differences between the NRC and DOE studies and to ensure a thorough
and rigorous evaluation of the potential of CSP technologies, DOE commissioned a new
report in 2002; a detailed technical analysis by an independent engineering firm. DOE
also asked an NRC panel to review and comment on a draft report of the independent
engineering firm, and this critique constitutes a second NRC report. The engineering
firm Sargent and Lundy (S&L) was selected to conduct this analysis on the basis, among
other factors, of its independence from the CSP industry and its recognized performance4
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Wilkins, F. Report to Congress on Assessment of Potential Impact of Concentrating Solar Power for Electriicty Generation (EPACT 2005--Section 934(c)), report, February 1, 2007; Golden, Colorado. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc886053/m1/11/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.