BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility scale solar power plants, announced that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its final approval for the company’s Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System.
With today’s BLM decision, the Ivanpah project now has all of the necessary permits to commence construction.
Earlier this week the BLM issued approval for two other large-scale solar thermal projects. These are the first of about two dozen projects fast-tracked by the BLM for approval by the end of the year, and they represent the first wave of a new generation of massive power plants under development globally.
“Ivanpah is one of several renewable energy projects in the pipeline that will help California and this nation build a clean energy economy,” Secretary Salazar said in signing the Record of Decision.
Jointly reviewed with the California Energy Commission, the project received its state permits on September 22, 2010. In February 2010, BrightSource received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of the Ivanpah project.
Once completed, the 392 megawatt (gross) Ivanpah project will nearly double the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the United States today. The approximately 3,500 acre project is located in San Bernardino County, in southeastern California.
BrightSource and Bechtel, the engineering and construction contractor for the Ivanpah project, estimate that the Ivanpah project will create 1,000 union jobs at the peak of construction.
The project is also expected to provide $300 million in local and state tax revenues, and produce $650 million in wages, over its first 30-year life.
BrightSource’s proprietary Luz Power Tower (LPT) technology enables the company to employ a low-impact environmental design. Instead of the extensive land grading and concrete pads used by other competing solar technologies, BrightSource mounts mirrors on individual poles that are placed directly into the ground, allowing the solar field to be built around the natural contours of the land and avoid areas of sensitive vegetation. This design also allows for vegetation to co-exist within the solar field.
In order to conserve water, the Ivanpah project will employ an air-cooling system to convert the steam back into water in a closed-loop cycle. By using air-cooling, the project will use only 100 acre feet of water per year, approximately 95% less water than competing solar thermal technologies that use wet-cooling.
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