Ivanpah Solar Power Facility
Encyclopedia
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, is a $2.2 billion solar thermal power project currently under construction in the California Mojave Desert
, 40 mile southwest of Las Vegas
, with a planned capacity of 392 megawatts (MW). The project is developed by BrightSource Energy
and Bechtel
. The largest investor in the project is NRG Energy
, a generating company based in Princeton, N.J., that has put in $300 million. The project has received a $1.375 billion loan guarantee from the United States Department of Energy
. It will deploy 347,000 heliostat
mirrors focusing solar energy on boilers located on centralized solar power tower
s.
s. For the first plant, the largest ever fully solar-powered steam turbine-generator set was ordered, using a 123 MW Siemens
SST-900 dual-casing reheat turbine. Final approval was gained in October 2010. On October 27, 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
, and other dignitaries gathered in the Mojave Desert
to officially break ground on the project. The first phase of the Ivanpah facility is scheduled to be finished in 2013.
The project will occupy about 4000 acres (16.2 km²) near Interstate 15
near the California–Nevada border, north of Ivanpah, California
, and will be visible from the adjacent Mojave National Preserve
, Mesquite Wilderness, and Stateline Wilderness
.
The project has received a $1.375 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy
— the largest offered to a solar project.
The total cost of the project is about $2,180 million.
BrightSource has contracts to sell about two-thirds of the power generated at Ivanpah to PG&E, and the rest to SCE
.
The largest investor in the project is NRG Energy
, a generating company based in Princeton, N.J., that has put in $300 million. The project has also received an investment of $168 million from Google
, but in November 2011, Google announced that they would no longer invest in CSP due to the rapid price decline of photovoltaics
, and stopped its research on the project.
's "Luz Power Tower 550 technology" (LPT 550):
The company plans to start commercial operation of the second phase in mid-2013 and the third later that year.
Elected San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents most of the California Mojave Desert has stated that the "project would create jobs for mostly Las Vegas and electricity for mostly San Francisco."
(FAA) requirements."
Additionally, "The power towers have 'receiver units' at their top on which the mirror fields focus their reflected light. During operation, these receiver units become extremely hot, such that they glow and appear brightly lit [and] high above the ground, these glowing receiver units will be a visible distraction to persons at many of the Key Observation Points, including travelers utilizing I-15
."
In 2010, the project was scaled back from the original 440 MW design to avoid building on habitat of the desert tortoise
.
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, 40 mile southwest of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, with a planned capacity of 392 megawatts (MW). The project is developed by BrightSource Energy
BrightSource Energy
BrightSource Energy is an Oakland, California, corporation that designs, builds, finances and operates utility-scale solar power plants that deliver clean, low-cost solar energy to utility and industrial customers worldwide at prices that compete with fossil fuels.Greentech Media ranked...
and Bechtel
Bechtel
Bechtel Corporation is the largest engineering company in the United States, ranking as the 5th-largest privately owned company in the U.S...
. The largest investor in the project is NRG Energy
NRG Energy
NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, near Princeton.-Electrical Power Generation Operations:...
, a generating company based in Princeton, N.J., that has put in $300 million. The project has received a $1.375 billion loan guarantee from the United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
. It will deploy 347,000 heliostat
Heliostat
A heliostat is a device that includes a mirror, usually a plane mirror, which turns so as to keep reflecting sunlight toward a predetermined target, compensating for the sun's apparent motions in the sky. The target may be a physical object, distant from the heliostat, or a direction in space...
mirrors focusing solar energy on boilers located on centralized solar power tower
Solar power tower
The solar power tower is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive the focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors to focus the sun's rays upon a collector tower...
s.
Description
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System will consist of three separate solar thermal power plants in south-eastern California. The facility will consist of fields of heliostat mirrors focusing sunlight on receivers located on centralized solar power towers. The receivers will generate steam to drive specially adapted steam turbineSteam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s. For the first plant, the largest ever fully solar-powered steam turbine-generator set was ordered, using a 123 MW Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
SST-900 dual-casing reheat turbine. Final approval was gained in October 2010. On October 27, 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Ken Salazar
Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar is the current United States Secretary of the Interior, in the administration of President Barack Obama. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martinez were the first Hispanic U.S...
, and other dignitaries gathered in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
to officially break ground on the project. The first phase of the Ivanpah facility is scheduled to be finished in 2013.
The project will occupy about 4000 acres (16.2 km²) near Interstate 15
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 is the fourth-longest north–south Interstate Highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana from San Diego to the Canadian border...
near the California–Nevada border, north of Ivanpah, California
Ivanpah, California
Ivanpah was a short-lived silver mining town located in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It was founded in 1869, and existed until at least the mid-1880s...
, and will be visible from the adjacent Mojave National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve is located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31, 1994 with the passage of the California Desert Protection Act by the US Congress...
, Mesquite Wilderness, and Stateline Wilderness
Stateline Wilderness
Located in San Bernardino County, California approximately three miles northwest of Primm, NV and I-15, the small but pristine 7,004-acre Stateline Wilderness contains the eastern terminus of the 15-mile long Clark Mountain Range....
.
The project has received a $1.375 billion loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
— the largest offered to a solar project.
The total cost of the project is about $2,180 million.
BrightSource has contracts to sell about two-thirds of the power generated at Ivanpah to PG&E, and the rest to SCE
Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison , the largest subsidiary of Edison International , is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California, USA. It provides 14 million people with electricity...
.
The largest investor in the project is NRG Energy
NRG Energy
NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company headquartered in West Windsor Township, New Jersey, near Princeton.-Electrical Power Generation Operations:...
, a generating company based in Princeton, N.J., that has put in $300 million. The project has also received an investment of $168 million from Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, but in November 2011, Google announced that they would no longer invest in CSP due to the rapid price decline of photovoltaics
Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
, and stopped its research on the project.
Power towers
The Ivanpah plants would use BrightSource EnergyBrightSource Energy
BrightSource Energy is an Oakland, California, corporation that designs, builds, finances and operates utility-scale solar power plants that deliver clean, low-cost solar energy to utility and industrial customers worldwide at prices that compete with fossil fuels.Greentech Media ranked...
's "Luz Power Tower 550 technology" (LPT 550):
The LPT 550 solar system produces electricity the same way as traditional power plants – by creating high temperature steam to turn a turbine. BrightSource uses thousands of mirrors called heliostats to reflect sunlight onto a receiver, being developed by Riley Power Inc., filled with water that sits atop a tower. When the sunlight hits the receiver, the water inside is heated and creates high temperature steam. The steam is then piped to a conventional turbine which generates electricity.
The company plans to start commercial operation of the second phase in mid-2013 and the third later that year.
Economic impact
BrightSource estimates that the Ivanpah facility would involve some 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction, 86 permanent jobs, and total economic benefits of $3 billion.Elected San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents most of the California Mojave Desert has stated that the "project would create jobs for mostly Las Vegas and electricity for mostly San Francisco."
Visual impact
According to the State of California Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission Opening Briefs regarding this project, "The project itself is visually imposing. It would cover roughly 4000 acre (1,619 ha), most of which would be covered with mirror fields. The panoramic expanse of mirror arrays would present strong textural contrast with the intact, natural character of the desert floor [and] would rise to a height of roughly 459 feet [140 m]; an additional 10 to 15 feet [3–5 m] above that height would consist of lighting to meet Federal Aviation AdministrationFederal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
(FAA) requirements."
Additionally, "The power towers have 'receiver units' at their top on which the mirror fields focus their reflected light. During operation, these receiver units become extremely hot, such that they glow and appear brightly lit [and] high above the ground, these glowing receiver units will be a visible distraction to persons at many of the Key Observation Points, including travelers utilizing I-15
Interstate 15
Interstate 15 is the fourth-longest north–south Interstate Highway in the United States, traveling through the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Montana from San Diego to the Canadian border...
."
Environmental impacts
The LPT 550 solar system minimizes the plant’s environmental impact, reducing the need for extensive land grading and concrete pads. By placing individual mirrors on poles directly into the ground, the system allows vegetation to co-exist within the project and avoids sensitive habitat. Other solar technologies require completely flat ground, necessitating bulldozing of the entire area. The Ivanpah project will only require grading to a small percentage of the area used for roads and buildings. In order to conserve scarce desert water, LPT 550 uses air-cooling to convert the steam back into water. Compared to conventional wet-cooling, this results in a 90 percent reduction in water usage, at some loss in power and turbine efficiency. The water is then returned to the boiler in a closed process.In 2010, the project was scaled back from the original 440 MW design to avoid building on habitat of the desert tortoise
Desert Tortoise
The desert tortoise is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They can be located in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The species name agassizii is in honor of...
.
See also
- List of solar thermal power stations
- SEGS
- Solar power plants in the Mojave DesertSolar power plants in the Mojave DesertThere are several solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which supply power to the electricity grid. Solar Energy Generating Systems is the name given to nine solar power plants in the Mojave Desert which were built in the 1980s. These plants have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts making them...
- Blythe Solar Power ProjectBlythe Solar Power ProjectThe Blythe Solar Power Project is a solar power station under construction in Riverside County, California. The project is being developed by Solarhybrid/Solar Millennium's subsidiary Solar Trust of America, in a joint venture with Chevron Energy Solutions....