US Army Goes Solar: 500 MW Solar Thermal Power Plant to be Built at Fort Irwin
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 10. 7.08
photo: azsustainably
Most people probably don’t think of the US Army as being on the forefront of the green movement, and while some military vehicles do guzzle gas more quickly than a new recruit learns to say ‘sir, yes, sir’, the Army is taking steps to reduce its energy usage. In fact in a press release outlining several new initiatives, Army goes so far to say that it wants to be a “model for the military and the nation” in terms of energy efficiency. Here are some of the Army’s latest green plans:
Huge Solar Thermal Power Plant
The Army will be joining with an unnamed private sector partner to build a 500 MW solar thermal power plant at Fort Irwin, California. The plant will supply both power to the public electric grid as well as the base itself. The Army is touting the project as providing greater energy security in the event of a disruption to the power supply at large.
No word on what variety of solar thermal technology will be used, cost to build, or when this solar behemoth will come online.
Other Green Efforts
The solar thermal power plant is the obvious big news, but three other green projects were announced concurrently:
1) The Army is pursuing the purchase of 4,000 small Neighborhood Electric Vehicles to replace gasoline-powered vehicles traditionally used by maintenance and operations staff for use on its posts.2) Six Army posts have been selected as sites for biomass to fuel demonstrations through a contract with the DLA. Also the Army is working with the private sector and with the Navy to develop a major geo thermal project at Hawthorne Army Depot, Nev., with the capability of producing 30 megawatts of clean power.
3) The Army will enter into a pilot energy savings performance contract with the private sector on an installation to serve as a model for monitoring and reducing energy consumption. The savings will be shared by the Army and the civilian contractor.
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What company did the Army contract?
Thats great. Actually Army and Navy have more advatages when going green.
There will not be many beurocratic hurdles.
They can be as a model to other armies in the world.
I wish navy might pursue the kite models also.
The best part about this is that the military has deep pockets: consider this a $1 billion subsidy of the solar industry.
And remember, every watt of solar power we build makes the next watt just a bit cheaper.
Is this like putting yourself out of business? Will we need to attack oil rich countries when we have solar? Seems like a bad business plan.
In fort drum in AZ they have one building powered by solar. Also the army should have renewable energy because lets say there is a blackout and the enemy is attacking but you have no communication.
It's a great point, Anthony. Solar gets cheaper through economies of scale. This is a big push in growing the industry.
Can't the Army start by shipping some Iraqi oil home first, since that's already been paid for and more within their scope of services? Here's what the US Army needs to do:
1. Kill all the terrorists in Iraq.
2. Invade Iran, and put an end to the proxy war that we will never win unless we do so.
3. As soon as objectives #1 and #2 are accomplished, THEN try to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis by building roads, schools, and bridges. This should not be undertaken while bad guys are still detonating IEDs and shooting at you - DUH!!!
4. Finally rebuild the pipelines and wellheads, stick guards on them every 50 feet, and send a constant stream of oil back to US as retribution over the next 100 years for all the money, time, heartache, and lives that have been otherwise completely wasted fighting George Bush's ill-conceived dream to finish the fight that his dad didn't have the spine to follow-through on.
Bottom Line: Lets stick to the basics, and once that's done, we can talk about filling the National Training Center up with solar panels.
@ Steven
The article says "an unnamed private sector partner" This clearly means that the information either wasn't provided to the author or otherwise wasn't publicly released.
The Army is late in the game - and not too bright.
The Air Force at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, has a solar plant - and did not spent a penny of your tax money.
They signed a multiyear contract to buy power (at 1/3 the local rate no less) and the plant was built on an old dump site - to power the base.
The Army should have asked around first - this has the smell of pork.....
I am retired military and I for one am so glad to see this happened. Not only is this a great benefit for the environment, but one great benefit for the military.
I have always beleived that the military, if necessary be able to close their gates and be able to sustain themselves.
In times of a major crisis, this helps because the outside communities will benefit with the military selling Green power to the grid.
That should (LOL) reduce the taxes required of the citizentry for the military.
No matter which party affliation you belong to, you should demand a review of the power costs associated with maintaining our military bases.
That brings up the questions that has been burning in my mind: If green energy cost less in the long run, Will the people of the Untied States see reduced energy bills when the cost of installation is paid for?
I am watching this, though I know it will take serveal years for the initial setup to pay for itself, but I beleive it is something all us should demand once the new green energy is paid for.
Go Army! Beat Navy! (anybody who's ever been to West Point would get that reference)
"In fort drum in AZ they have one building powered by solar."
You sure about that? Last time I checked Ft. Drum was in New York, about 50 miles north of Syracuse.
Actually the military has surprisingly high environmental standards. I know in the Marines, if not all services, military installations are also protected nature preserves. At 29 Palms, certain areas are restricted because of turtles, and in some places also because of endangered "dirt". The EPA inspectors are all over the place and even in foreign countries, we always used the most rigorous enviro standards- US or local- whichever was more responsible. Same for the agriculture inspections on equipment- even going from Korea to Japan, US Ag inspectors were white glove inspecting our gear.