A Visit to Shams-1: Abu Dhabi's Unique Solar CSP Hybrid Power Plant

One of the first questions I asked upon arriving in Abu Dhabi, a very modern city in a very oil-rich country, with a very progressive stance towards renewables, was, why? Besides the obvious fact that unlike some other people, they recognize the fact that their oil won't last forever, and they want to participate in energy after it runs out. But there's something else, too. They would like to see an orderly transition that allows them to steward their resource to make as much out of it as they can.

A great example of that is the Shams-1 hybrid solar power plant, which is located 120 km southwest of Abu Dhabi.
Shams is a joint venture between Masdar of the UAE, which contributed 60%, Total, of France, (20%), and Abengoa Solar of Spain (20%).

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Image credit: RP Siegel

RP Siegel, author and inventor, shines a powerful light on numerous environmental and technological topics. He has been published in business and technical journals and has written three books. His third, co-authored with Roger Saillant, is Vapor Trails, an eco-thriller that is being adapted for the big screen. RP is a professional engineer – and a prolific inventor, with 50 patents, numerous awards, and several commercial products. He is president of Rain Mountain LLC and is an active environmental advocate in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. In addition to Justmeans, he writes for Triple Pundit, ThomasNet News, and Energy Viewpoints, occasionally contributing to Mechanical Engineering, Strategy + Business, and Huffington Post.