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SolarReserve: Crescent Dunes Overcomes Limitation Of Battery Storage

Santa Monica-based utility-scale solar power company Solar Reserve says its molten-salt based, utility-solar plants have a big advantage over battery-based energy storage, which it says "isn't exactly clean or practical". The power plant developer--whose Crescent Dunes plant started delivering energy to the grid in late 2015--says that its technology offers a "real way" to sore energy for use after dark, and overcomes the intermittency problems that face use of renewables. SolarReserve uses thermal energy, stored in the form of molten salt, to capture heat from a massive array of steerable mirrors, which can be later used to power generators for producing energy at night. The company said on Monday that its technology is a possible "blueprint" for moving to a low carbon planet and to curb climate change. The company says its project is generating full load of 110 megawatts of net electricity output at its Crescent Dunes plant, which is located near Tonopah, Nevada.