SPX Awarded Contract to Supply Parallel Condensing System For Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada

Date
03/24/2012

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Unique Cooling Solution to Serve Nation's First Commercial-Scale Solar Power Facility with Fully Integrated Energy Storage

SPX Corporation has announced that its Thermal Equipment and Services segment has been awarded a contract from COBRA Thermosolar Plants Inc., a subsidiary of Industrial Services Group of Madrid-based ACS, to provide a parallel condensing system to the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project being constructed near Tonopah, Nevada. Nevada-based COBRA Thermosolar Plants is the engineering, procurement and construction company working on behalf of Tonopah Solar Energy, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of SolarReserve, LLC, the developer of the plant. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, located midway between Las Vegas and Reno, features the world's largest molten salt solar power tower, standing at 540 feet. With the addition of the receiver, the final tower height will be around 650 feet high. By utilizing the most advanced solar thermal technology worldwide, the 110 megawatt (MW) Crescent Dunes plant will be the first commercial-scale solar power facility with fully integrated energy storage in the United States, and the largest power plant of its kind in the world. With the ability to store energy for 10-15 hours, the plant can deliver electricity on-demand, the same way a coal, natural gas, or nuclear fueled plant does, but without any harmful emissions that are associated with burning conventional fuels. The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project has secured a 25-year power purchase agreement with NV Energy and will provide clean energy to power approximately 75,000 homes. The project closed financing in September of 2011 utilizing private equity investment from SolarReserve, ACS Cobra and Santander, along with support from the US Department of Energy's loan guarantee program. Under the terms of the agreement, SPX will provide a Parallel Condensing System (PCS™) for installation at the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project facility. The Parallel Condensing System consists of three main SPX products: an air cooled condenser, wet cooling towers and a surface condenser. This marks the first time that SPX will be fully responsible for the design and manufacture of all the wet and dry cooling parts utilized by the hybrid cooling solution, as well as the overall control system. This hybrid cooling system will help make the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant the largest and most efficient concentrated solar power plant in the world. "SPX's Parallel Condensing System is an innovative, integrated solution designed to distribute cooling duties between both wet and dry systems while limiting water consumption and maximizing the power plant output," said Drew Ladau, SPX segment president. "SPX's hybrid cooling system is an advanced solution for solar power plants using world cutting-edge technologies." The installation of SPX's cooling system at the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project in is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012and is expected to be operational by the end of 2013. SPX Thermal Equipment and Services is a leading global provider of evaporative and hybrid cooling towers and solutions, air-cooled condensers, heat exchangers, air and flue gas systems and filter systems. These technologies support thousands of customers in the power generation, industrial, refrigeration, and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) markets. www.spx.com

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