Solar Thermal Really Heats Up in Nevada: BrightSource Plans 1200 MW Facilty Outside Las Vegas
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 08.28.08
image: BrightSource Energy
At the risk of sounding like a cheerleader, the scale of some of the new solar power plants being announced over the past few weeks are just astounding. PG&E has contracted with a 250 MW and a 500 MW solar plant in California, a 250 MW integrated solar plant/manufacturing facility is being built in India, and the Clinton Foundation is discussing building a similar 5,000 MW facility in a different part of India. At the beginning of the summer a new 10 MW thin-film facility was claiming the record for that category and a 400 MW solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert was big news. Furthering the great solar scale-up:
Three 400 Megawatt Plants Planned
BrightSource Energy as announced that it will be developing a 1200 MW solar thermal power facility at a site northeast of Las Vegas, with 2012 being the target date for completion. According to The Desert Valley Times Online the facility would consist of three 400 MW plants near Overton Airport, as well as upgrading the transmission infrastructure needed to bring the power to the grid.
Regulatory Hurdles Yet to Be Cleared
Though construction of the facility is expected to take 18-24 months, state and federal permitting is expected to take an additional two years. Additionally, the plant does not yet have a power outtake agreement in place. The gist of which is that there’s a lot of solar power on tap but there are still hoops to jump through before it comes online.
BrightSource estimates that the power generated by this facility would be enough to power 900,000 homes.
Scale is Key for Solar to Displace Fossil Fuels
It's really good to see that solar power plants are finally being scaled to the size of fossil fuel-based power plants. This is the sort of expansion needed, especially when combined with decentralized power generation on people's homes and businesses, that will make a significant dent in fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions.
via :: The Desert Valley Times Online and :: Cleantech Investing in Israel
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"It's really good to see that solar power plants are finally being scaled to the size of fossil fuel-based power plants. "
Absolutely.
Great Scott! That's 1.2 GigaWatts!
This is great but what concerns me is the current inefficiency of these things. We are looking to put solar in our renovation and it's just proving a nightmare.
Here's what concerns me ( overall )
In 2001 the UK had 22 million homes in it.
Average electricity consumption as low as 30kW a day
This plant products 1.2million kW so that'll power ( using the above figures ) 40,000 homes.
To get half of the country running off this stuff we'd need another 550 of these plants and we just don't have that space.
So looks like we'll be importing energy for a while .
So we can build a plant in 25% less time than it takes to get permits to build the plant in the first place?
Now THAT'S sad.
As solar plants scale up, we must scale down. Did you know, that for a few bucks more you can build a higher efficiency fridge that will cost less to run? Microwave cooking has improved and more efficient microwaves ovens with better cooking vessels are now available? We can convert to LED lighting in the near future, and this will reduce our power consumption. Home heating has gone solar, and all new houses will include at least passive solar heating and super-insulation? Most solid state appliances will be designed with energy efficiency in mind. All the ways we use electricity are going to be made more efficient so that when the energy crunch comes, and the OPEC nations reduce oil supplies as they run towards empty, we will suffer less than had we continued our wasteful ways! Even the car market is changing as we speak and will face tough regulation as far as efficiency is concerned. Expect to see more carbon fiber in car bodies for lighter weigh, more plug in hybrids for cheaper commutes, and advanced polymer composites throughout cars for light weight strength . Expect two seater, three wheeled commuter specialized cars to reduce cost of commuting and strict traffic laws to accommodate them. America is not entering the 21st century with its head down, so expect sweeping political changes to force high efficiency living. We cannot afford to lose this battle, the oil is gone!
The scale of some of the new solar power plants being announced over the past few weeks are just astounding.
Actually a comment for Lee:
Power stations' capacity ratings are stated in Gigawatts (GW), Megawatts (MW) and Kilowatts (KW). A gigawatt is 1000 megawatts or 1 million kilowatts.
Energy use is rated in GW per hour, MW per hour and KW per hour.
An average US house uses approximately 3.5 KW/hr. So at peak power of 1.2 GW the above plants could support 343,000 homes.
the spanish are investing big in this as well. they plan on having up to 60 plants built in the near future