Solar energy developer BrightSource Energy Inc. has received approval for the solar thermal project it is developing in California, which will be among the largest in the world.
The document issued by the United States Bureau of Land Management permits the company to start building the 392-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which uses the solar tower model.
Last month, the California Energy Commission gave prior approval to the project.
“The construction of this large-scale solar project is further evidence that reliable, renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay,” proclaimed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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BrightSource will start building the solar facility in San Bernardino County, southeastern California. The facility’s three power plants are expected to cover approximately 3,500 acres of land.
The Ivanpah project will comprise three solar concentrating thermal power plants. It will be built in two 100-MW phases and a final 200-MW phase.
The solar thermal plant will contain fields of solar mirrors that refocus the sun’s rays on tower receivers. The first plant is scheduled to come online in mid-2012.
The solar plant’s capacity will deliver enough electricity to power 140,000 homes upon completion. Proponents said the solar energy it will produce will offset over 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually – the same amount that comes from 70,000 cars.
It is expected to stimulate the local economy by adding more than 1,000 jobs at the peak of construction and distributing $650 million in employee wages over its first 30-year life.
The approval comes shortly after approvals by the bureau for two other solar power projects in California’s public lands. The 709-MW Imperial Valley project, proposed by Texas-based Tessera Solar, will occupy 6,360 acres with almost 30,000 units of Stirling Energy Systems’ novel 25-kilowatt SunCatcher technology.
Also given the green light was the Lucerne Valley project to be developed by Chevron, which will occupy more than 420 acres of land in San Bernardino County. The solar facility will be fitted with 40,500 solar photovoltaic panels, which will produce enough power to meet the energy needs of 33,750 homes.
Several organizations praised the bureau for approving the project. “Large scale solar projects like the Ivanpah … will help build the clean energy infrastructure in California that is needed to combat global warming, reduce air pollution and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels that have caused such great harm to public health,» said Jane Warner, president of the American Lung Association in California.
“With large-scale solar projects like Ivanpah, California’s High Desert region is quickly becoming the destination of our state’s clean energy economy,” said Steve Knight, California assemblyman.
