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License granted for first solar thermal project in 20 years

The Beacon Solar Project will use lines of parabolic mirrors to reflect light on pipes containing heat transfer fluid, which will flow to a central power station to generate electricity

Regulators in California have given the green light to the first solar thermal power project in the state for 20 years.

The California Energy Commission voted unanimously to grant a license for the 250-megawatt Beacon Solar Energy Project, a project being developed by Florida’s NextEra Energy Resources.

The facility is set to use concentrated solar energy technology on a 2,012-acre site in eastern Kern County, 15 miles north of Mojave on the western edge of the Mojave Desert.

The Energy Commission Chairman Karen Douglas said: “Today’s action begins the journey of increasing clean renewable energy in California.”

The last solar thermal power plants that the Energy Commission approved were Luz Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) IX and Luz SEGS X in February 1990.

Complies

The Commission said that with its proposed mitigation measures, the Beacon project would have “no significant impacts” on the environment, and complies with applicable laws and standards.

The project would be built, owned and operated by NextEra through its subsidiary Beacon Solar, using parabolic trough mirrors (heliostats) to focus sunlight on a heat transfer fluid, which would be used to drive a steam generator.

NextEra is also developing a 250MW solar project in the Sonoran Desert, which also looks likely to gain a license from the Commission, although it is currently going through a final public comment period (see this BrighterEnergy.org story).