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California regulators set to approve world’s largest solar plant

BrightSource has piloted its solar thermal technology at a facility in Israel

Regulators in California look set to green light one of the world’s largest solar projects, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System proposed for the Mojave desert.

A siting committee of the California Energy Commission has recommended granting a license to the 392-megawatt solar thermal project, which is being developed by Oakland firm BrightSource Energy, Inc.

The recommendation to approve the project kicks off a 30-day period in which public comments will be accepted, before the Commission makes a final decision.

The Ivanpah project, which is also currently being reviewed by the federal Bureau of Land Management, is expected to double the amount of solar thermal power generating capacity operating in the US today.

BrightSource believes it will have all permits in place ready for a construction start this fall.

“We’re grateful for the CEC staff’s diligent work, and the committee’s thoughtful and timely recommendation to approve the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System,” said John Woolard, President and CEO of BrightSource Energy.

“We look forward to a final decision from the Commission when we can begin constructing the Ivanpah project, providing good jobs for the High Desert community, producing clean energy for the state’s homes and businesses, and creating a model for environmentally-responsible energy projects.”

BrightSource has the conditional offer of a federal loan guarantee worth $1.37 billion to support the project, from the US Department of Energy.

Ivanpah

The project is to comprise three separate solar thermal power plants, which together would produce enough energy to supply more than 140,000 homes, with the environmental benefits equivalent to taking more than 70,000 cars off the road.

San Francisco-based engineering firm Bechtel is in place to build the plant, while power is to be sold under separate contracts with utilities Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison.

“This proposed decision moves us one step closer to putting the High Desert’s talented labor pool to work building our state’s much needed infrastructure,” said Bob Balgenorth, President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California. “Ivanpah is setting a great standard by training and employing the middle class workers that support our state’s economy.”

The plants will use a series of mirrors to reflect sunlight on central towers, where the energy will produce steam to drive a turbine to generate electricity. BrightSource has piloted the technology at a plant in Israel.

Impacts

The Ivanpah project has been criticized for its impacts on wildlife in the desert site, while BrightSource changed its proposals from a water-cooling system to an air-cooling system to reduce its requirements for water.

The California Energy Commission’s presiding member’s proposed decision said the project will still have “significant impacts” on the environment, but found that the benefits of the project would override those impacts.

“Large-scale solar technologies provide one of our best hopes for solving the problem of global climate change,” said Amy Davidsen, U.S. Director of The Climate Group. “To meet this potential, we need to scale up the use of these technologies as soon as possible. Today’s proposed decision recommending approval of the Ivanpah project represents a major step toward the realization of this goal.”