建造is set to begin this month on the world’s tallest solar tower—a 787-ft-tall structure in Israel’s Negev desert that will supply 1% of the country’s power. Surrounded by 50,600 sun-tracking heliostats over 3.15 square kilometers, the tower will provide 121 MW of concentrating solar power (CSP) at the Ashalim Solar Thermal Station. The $800-million project is being built by a venture owned by Brightsource Energy, General Electric unit Alstom and financial partner Noy Fund.

“The tower and the single lift of the pre-assembled GE-supplied SRSG [solar-receiver steam generator] represent the biggest construction challenges of the project,” says Eran Gartner, CEO of the developing team, Megalim Solar Power Ltd. France’s Ferbeck Industrial Chimneys designed the structure, which is being built by Gleitbau-Salzburg GmbH using slip-forming technology.

The tower, set to take four to five months to complete, features a stainless-steel wire-mesh envelope supported by a structure of struts and cables. “The challenge was to design an envelope that was light, visible and took into account the environmental conditions and, at the same time, did not require additional foundation,” says architect Eran Ziv. Megalim estimates the “architectural envelope” will add several million dollars to the project’s cost. The design team is still developing the process to attach the envelope and the strut-cable structure. The final stage will involve lifting into place the SRSG boiler. Swiss lift- technology firm Hebetec Engineering will hoist the 2,500-ton, 50-meter-high boiler to the top of the tower, which is 200 m high. “The combination of the weight, height and girth of the boiler makes the job unique,” says Gartner.

由于空间的需求，CSP技术与用于太阳能发电厂一起使用的光伏技术远不如光伏技术。围绕塔的螺旋体等于100万平方米的反射表面。镜子将使塔能够产生高达1,000°F的热量，这将提供蒸汽以驱动涡轮机。Brightsource开发了HelioStats，这是该公司390兆瓦Ivanpah的发电厂的升级版本。Gartner说：“伊万帕（Ivanpah）是以色列工厂的测试场所，并允许我们削减成本。”新利18备用官网登录在这些改进中，较大的HelioStats和使用Wi-Fi网络来控制它们。伊万帕（Ivanpah）的三个459英尺高的塔楼产生了三倍的动力，但使用了四倍的土地。

Ashalim项目将于明年完成，但是第二个121兆瓦的太阳能工厂将于2018年建造。以色列承包商Shikun＆Binui Holdings Ltd.上个月取代了建造者，以建造者开发为基础的西班牙公司Abengoa Group。两种工厂都将以高于市场的价格出售电力，向国有的以色列电力公司出售，但该国将以2020年可再生能源的10％发电为目标。