Solar pyramids Take Off

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Tech firm MSC aims for fleet of solar pyramids, IPO

 

Reuters

 

Singapore, March 14, 2006

 

Singapore-based technology firm MSC Power Corp is

building its first sun-driven wind power station in

India and aims to list this year on NASDAQ in an

initial public offering that it says could be worth

more than $5 billion.

 

The Singapore-based firm, backed by private investors

from the Middle East and Asia, will finish

constructing a small $10 million five megawatt (MW)

power station by June in Pune near Mumbai that will

use solar energy to power wind turbines.

 

" We're looking at global expansion, " Chairman Steven

Mok told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a

power industry conference.

 

" We're planning an IPO this year that could be $5

billion and up. "

 

He said the firm was still choosing banks to advise on

the IPO, which was likely to be in the fourth quarter.

 

Depending on the success of the IPO, Mok said the firm

hoped to build over 1,000 such plants in India in the

next four years, with China seen as the second largest

potential market.

 

India and China are trying to boost power generation

amid strong economic growth, though surging oil and

gas prices have made renewable energies such as wind

power more competitive.

 

MSC has designed a pyramid-shaped power plant that

draws in ambient air and heats it through solar power

and solar heat to drive turbines.

 

The heat is also used to warm stored water, which can

reduce the electricity needed to electrolyse it to

produce cooking gas and to desalinate water for

drinking.

 

The small scale of the power generation - up to 36 MW

with the current design - meant it was more suitable

for rural areas than for powering cities, Mok said. A

large coal or nuclear power plant may generate around

1,000 MW of power.

 

" A cost saving is that we are localised, so it cuts

down on transmission needs, " Mok said.

 

Capital costs are around $2 million per megawatt of

power, around double for that of wind in India, but

running costs were low at under 2 cents per kilowatt

hour, Mok said, less than the 6-8 cents per kilowatt

hour the company expected to get from selling power in

India.

 

" It will take about three years to pay back, " Mok

said.

 

" The advantage over wind is the small space - about

3-5 per cent of the area needed for a wind farm, and

the reliability of supply. "

 

A 10 MW pyramid plant would be about 45 metres high

and take up about 2,500 square metres of space,

including an associated desalination plant.

 

The company is also hoping to build 10 MW power and

desalination plants in Chennai, India, and in Sudan,

as well as 2 MW commercial power plant prototypes in

Malaysia, China and Thailand.

 

The plants take around nine months to a year to build.

 

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