Ivanpah produces 392 MW power; avoids emissions of 400,000 tonnes of CO2
The world’s largest solar thermal
power project has started generating electricity. Ivanpah Solar
Electric Generating System, located in California, became operational on
February 13. At full capacity, the plant produces a total of 392
megawatts (MW) of solar power. It is enough to provide
140,000
California homes with clean energy and avoid 400,000 tonnes of carbon
dioxide per year, equal to removing 72,000 vehicles from the road.
Ivanpah, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of all solar thermal
energy currently operational in the US, is the largest solar project of
its kind in the world, reads the press statement issued by BrightSource
Energy, a company which provided the technology for the project.
Ivanpah covers around five square miles of the Mojave desert in
California. The plant has three 450-feet-tall towers surrounded by a
total of 173,500 heliostats, mirrors that follow the sun’s trajectory
and concentrates solar energy on boilers atop the towers where water is
heated to produce steam which is used to turn turbines and produce
electricity.
The project is the joint effort between NRG, a power generation
company, and BrightSource Energy, the technology provider, and Google,
which is the investor in the project. Bechtel was the engineering,
procurement, and construction contractor for the project. The project
received a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the US Department of
Energy’s Loan Programs Office, reads the press statement. The total
project cost was $2.2 billion.
“Cleantech innovations such as Ivanpah are critical to establishing
America’s leadership in large-scale, clean-energy technology that will
keep our economy globally competitive over the next several decades,”
said Tom Doyle, president, NRG Solar. “We see Ivanpah changing the
energy landscape by proving that utility-scale solar is not only
possible, but incredibly beneficial to both the economy and in how we
produce and consume energy,” he added.
Press reports indicate that the project may face hiccups in future. The
plant has no electricity storage facility. The project developers say
that they may do it later. It may also pose a threat to migratory birds
that may get exposed to the concentrated solar radiation.
