AORA launched the world's first hybrid thermo-solar power plant in Arava

The station containing 30 collectors with a power of 100 kilowatts will provide solar energy during the day and thermal energy at night for the use of Kibbutz Samar and the national electricity grid

AORA from the Adig Group, which develops solar energy applications at very high temperatures (CSP technology), today successfully launched the world's first hybrid thermo-solar power plant located in Kibbutz Samar in the Arava (near Eilat). This event is the first time that a CSP technology power plant has the ability to provide environmentally friendly, "green" energy at the local level 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

"The size of the system and the relative cost of our solar power plant means that it can be implemented at the local level and in larger areas," says Haim Farid, CEO of AORA. "Any city, town or village can now provide their energy needs at an affordable price and in a construction time of several months, not years as offered by other CSP technologies."

The AORA power station in Kibbutz Samar, which is designed as a "solar flower" tower, is so called due to the unique design of the power station tower in the shape of a yellow colorful flower designed by architect Haim Dotan. The station includes a field of 30 consecutive mirrors (the heliostats) installed on an area of ​​2 dunams. Each such unit is expected to supply 100kW of electricity to the national electricity grid, an amount of electricity sufficient for approximately 70 households.

Each of the 30 mirrors (heliostats) follows the sun and focuses its rays towards the top of a 30m high tower where a unique solar collector and a 100kW gas turbine are installed. The collector uses the sun's energy to heat air to a temperature of about 1,000 degrees Celsius, and directs this energy into a turbine which turns this enormous thermal energy into electrical energy that is transferred directly to the national electricity grid.

The hybrid operation capability offered by AORA allows the system to combine the use of solar radiation with almost any alternative fuel, including biogas, biodiesel and natural gas. This feature allows the modular unit a variety of operating modes - from solar operation based on solar energy only, to hybrid operation, in which when there is no radiation from the sun or it is insufficient, the electricity is produced using a combination of green or fossil fuel, for example at night or in cloudy conditions. In this way, it is possible to guarantee energy supply from the station for 24 hours a day. The dignitaries present at the AORA launch event included a delegation of businessmen from Spain, Spanish and Israeli government representatives and power plant managers from Australia, Mexico and Germany who had already expressed interest in purchasing the AORA system.

The CAM company from Chile, which provides integrated energy solutions, has signed an agreement with AORA, which will allow it to exclusively market and distribute AORA's technologies in Chile. Also, Greenearth Energy Ltd, a green energy company from Melbourne, signed an agreement that will allow it to exclusively market and distribute AORA's technologies in Australia.

In addition, AORA and a Spanish company called AORA SL signed a memorandum of understanding that will give AORA SL the right to sell AORA's technology in Spain and Portugal.

On the same topic on the science site

• Cheap materials for storing solar energy
• The solar energy farm developed at the Ben Gurion University in a first commercial experiment
• Enjoy solar energy even after sunset