The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station, the world’s largest concentrating solar power facility, was officially opened on 13 February at a ceremony attended by US secretary of energy Ernest Moniz. The Ivanpah site was first synchronised to the grid in September 2013 and was substantially complete by October.
In his remarks, Moniz praised the Obama administration’s leadership on supporting renewable energy projects.
“President Obama and the department of energy are committed to ensuring that all sources of energy are competitive in a carbon-constrained economy," he said. "This is why we have already invested more than $6 billion in carbon capture and sequestration technologies and recently announced up to $8 billion in available loan guarantees for advanced fossil energy projects that lower emissions."
Moniz stressed that the DOE is looking to support more projects like Ivanpah. "We have over $40 billion to spend on clean energy projects," he said. "Bring them on!"
Ivanpah comprises three units with a total capacity of 392 MW (377 MW net) and is a joint enterprise of NRG Energy (through its subsidiary NRG Solar), Google, Bechtel, and BrightSource Energy. The station uses 173 500 heliostats to concentrate sunlight on three 459 foot towers. Four types of heliostats are used depending on the distance from the tower; the furthest are more than half a mile away.
Photo: A view of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System tower 1 and power block from the solar field. Each tower is 459 feet tall, 150 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. (Source: Business Wire)
