Acciona Solar Power and Clark Energy are to develop the US Army’s largest-ever solar energy facility after winning a bid to develop a $2 billion, 500 MW project at a California military and space complex.
The key project is part of a wider programme to improve energy efficiency and energy security in the US armed forces and will be built at Fort Irwin, an iconic military installation in the Mojave Desert.
The two companies are to build five solar power installations with a total capacity of 500 MW across five sites at Fort Irwin. The project could later be extended to 1000 MW, depending on demand and transmission capacity, says Acciona.
The project will use both photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, with the first five plants covering a total area of around 5600 ha. Site selection is underway by Army technicians and the first 20 MW PV plant will be operational by 2013.
The remaining four installations should be completed by 2022, says Acciona, which is targeting the USA in its expansion strategy.
The planned solar projects are expected to produce around 1 billion kWh of electricity per year, far exceeding the peak load of Fort Irwin, which is the US Army’s largest training camp and home to NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. Excess electricity will be sold to the grid via two high voltage transmission lines.
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