Hamilton Sundstrand Teams-Up To Provide Alternative Energy

The Hartford Courant

1:58 PM EST, January 2, 2008

Aerospace parts maker Hamilton Sundstrand Corp. has teamed up with a private equity firm to provide electric power to utilities using a new technology, the Windsor Locks company said Wednesday.

Hamilton has entered a long-term, exclusive deal with US Renewables Group to supply equipment for converting solar energy to electric power through a process involving molten salt.

A US Renewables company, SolarReserve, intends to sell the power systems to utilities.

The systems function like conventional hydroelectric power plants, but can store the sun's energy and release it on demand, making it more predictable than a water-based system, according to US Renewables. The system's main energy source, the sun, is renewable and costs nothing.

The systems -- called concentrated solar power projects -- can produce up to 500 megawatts of peak power, or enough to supply about 500,000 typical-sized houses.

The technology was developed by Rocketdyne, which was acquired by United Technologies Corp., Hamilton's parent company, in 2005. Rocketdyne is the prime contractor for electric power systems on the International Space Station.

Hamilton will provide SolarReserve with the hardware for the power generation systems.