Green energy is in; fossil fuels are out. At least that’s the message in the popular press. But if a cutting-edge power project in Florida is any indication, the future may lie not with one or the other but the two working in concert.

Before the end of the year, Florida Power & Light expects to activate what it describes as the world’s first powerplant to integrate concentrated solar power into an existing gas-fired combined-cycle facility in Indiantown, in Martin County in southeastern Florida.

75兆瓦的马丁下一代太阳能中心利用了两种燃料的最佳。The hybrid plant can run on cheap and clean solar energy when the sun shines with the help of parabolic trough mirrors that concentrate the sun’s radiant power by a factor 80. The energy heats fluid that is converted into steam to move the turbines of the combined cycle unit. On cloudy days, when the sun can’t act as fuel, the combined- cycle unit generates power as it originally was intended to do when it was built in 2003, using readily available natural gas.

在一种植物中使用两种燃料并不是什么新鲜事物。实际上，在石油和天然气之间进行切换是利用最佳价格和燃料可用性的相当普遍的方法。新的是不断增长的可再生能源作为伴侣燃料。

Biomass has taken the lead, operating in combination with coal, particularly in Europe. But growing interest exists in solar hybrid plants, the choice of not only FP&L but also Italian utility Enel, which recently unveiled its own solar-gas hybrid, a 5-MW plant that uses molten salts to store the solar heat. Other hybrids pair solar with coal, such as the Cameo Generating Station built by Colorado utility Xcel Energy.

Still, the solar hybrid technology is so new, construction and design presented some unexpected challenges for FP&L, which contracted with Abilene, Texas-based Lauren Engineers & Constructors for engineering and procurement as well as construction.

“It is a lot more complicated than people think. … It was 1.9-million man- hours of construction,” says John Gnecco, FP&L director of development.

For one thing, Florida has weather problems not found in deserts where combined-solar powerplants typically are built. FP&L feared the wing-shaped mirrors might take flight under 150 miles per hour winds.

“它有190,000镜。如果他们开始闯入，那将是很多厄运，伙计，七年来了镜子，” Gnecco说

为了解决这个问题,FP&L回火glass-pro使用duced in Spain by Rio Glass Solar—seated with extra bolts within framing made from recycled Florida aluminum. Built on a truss system, the units rotate and follow the sun from east to west as it traverses the sky. The final result is massive, covering 500 acres, or 51 miles if you walk row by row.

该太阳能电厂有望比其4.763亿美元的预算低于20％，这是GNECCO的成就归因于规模经济和组装线效率。例如，铝制框架是由1000名工人组装的碎片。“当我们开始时，建造一个框架花了四到六个小时。到我们完成的时候，花了不到30分钟的时间。”他说。

The solar project is drawing international attention, and FP&L finds itself leading tours for the U.S. Dept. of State. The utility hopes to build more such projects, but much depends on the willingness of state lawmakers to let the utility again recover costs in rates. So far that has not happened, but Gnecco remains hopeful. “There is a tremendous amount of interest in this project; it is a showcase project. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve been building powerplants for 20 yearss, and this is the best of them,” he says.

“We are in discussions with several western and Southeast utilities that are considering these types of projects,” said Clint Rosenbaum, Lauren vice president of engineering. Hybrid plants cut capital costs for utilities, he adds. “Savings could also be realized from reduced CO? with some form of carbon credits. … Hybrid powerplants are the near-term future for concentrating solar power,” he says.