The Nevada Solar One project, the world’s third largest solar thermal plant, is now supplying power to the Nevada grid.
The $250 million project was built by Spain-based Acciona Solar Power over 16 months. The 64-MW solar thermal power plant covers 400 acres in the Eldorado Valley and uses large-scale, parabolic trough technology to enable heat transfer from the sun’s rays to ultimately generate up to 134 million kW hours of electricity per year, enough to power 15,000 households annually.
The electricity is being sold to Nevada Power Company and Sierra Pacific Power Company under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). The PPAs will ensure fixed costs for the electricity, making solar power an economically feasible energy alternative over time.
“Solar thermal technology is one of the most exciting renewable energy sources emerging today that is scalable and commercially viable,” said Pete Duprey, CEO, Acciona Energy North America.
About Acciona
Acciona Solar Power is a majority-owned subsidiary of Acciona Energy, a unit of Acciona (Madrid: ANA.MC).
Acciona Energy is one of the largest wind developers in the world with a portfolio of more than 4,500 megawatts installed in 169 wind farms in 10 countries. In solar energy, the company’s Nevada Solar One project represents the largest solar thermal electric power plant built in the world in the last 16 years, in addition to the company’s 29 MW and 46 MW PV plants under construction in Portugal. Acciona maintains three biomass plants (33 MW) and small hydro power plants (59 MW). In biofuels, the company produces biodiesel from vegetable oils and bioethanol from surplus wine.
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