March 30, 2011 - AREVA and the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group, LLC (FNEG) announced today they have signed a contract to initiate the first phase in the development of an advanced Clean Energy Park near Fresno, California, USA.
Phase one of the Fresno Clean Energy Park envisions a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, which will power a water processing plant integrated with a waste water treatment facility. The contract focuses on activities to support the feasibility assessments of the project.
Today’s contract follows a series of milestones for the Fresno Clean Energy Park beginning with an April 2010 Memorandum of Understanding between AREVA and FNEG to begin development of the project using all AREVA technologies.
“Clean Energy Parks, like the one under development in Fresno, will help the United States meet a growing demand for clean power generation using AREVA’s advanced nuclear energy and renewable technologies,” said Jacques Besnainou, CEO of AREVA North America. “The technologies available include AREVA’s U.S. EPR™ and other reactors, concentrated solar, offshore wind and biomass plants.”
Headquartered in the state of California., AREVA Solar uses compact linear Fresnel reflector (CLFR) technology to concentrate the sun's rays and produce steam for power generation and for industrial steam uses. CLFR is considered the most land-efficient solar technology available.