SkyFuel has confirmed plans to enter the solar thermal market in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) with their high performance parabolic trough collector, and seeks local partners to establish its presence there. SkyTrough(R) is the optimum technology solution for the recently announced concentrating solar power (CSP) market program promoted by the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KA-CARE). Once implemented, the program will make Saudi Arabia the largest CSP market in the world, with the goal of 25 GW by 2032. What makes SkyTrough(R) so attractive to projects in Saudi Arabia are its high performance relative to cost, and high local manufacturing content. “The Company is in talks to identify a partner for local production of SkyTrough(R), a leading and proven solar thermal power system, and to work with CSP project developers throughout Saudi Arabia and the Middle East,” stated Rick LeBlanc, Sky Fuel's CEO. During the Saudi Solar Energy Forum in early May, Mujahid AlGain of KA-CARE indicated that CSP would provide 12-17% of the total electricity generation in Saudi Arabia, and that manufacturing the equipment locally is a key part of the long term strategy in the KA-CARE plan. “Saudi Arabia will be an important market for us and we want to establish SkyFuel as a long term supplier with the help of our prospective partners,” commented Kelly Beninga, SkyFuel's Chief Commercial Officer. Other advantages that differentiate the SkyTrough(R) include lower operation and maintenance costs made possible by the use of unbreakable ReflecTech(R)-based mirrors; ease of construction; low auxiliary power use for the integrated drive and control system; and the ability to economically build solar fields from 1 MW to 100 MW.
