Vol. 4, No. 10
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March 15, 2007
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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Nevada's Largest Solar Plant
To Power Up, Engage:
Sixty-Four MW Plant Features
Extraordinary Technology
Originally conceived by Solargenix, Nevada Solar One is about to come on line according to new owners, Acciona of Spain. Acciona was a partner with Solargenix and bought out the Nevada operation recently. Nevada Solar One is a 64-megawatt plant located in Boulder City in southern Nevada. It is the third largest solar plant in the world and works on a principal that many say can be reproduced in many areas of Nevada and the great Southwest.
An array of parabolic mirrors facing generally south focus solar rays onto vacuum tube steel and glass tubes or receivers filled with mineral oil. The oil is super heated to well over 1,000 degrees and is fed through vats of water, which is turned to steam, and drives turbines to generate electricity. The steam is then cooled and returned to the vats to begin the process all over again.
Similar in design to older plants operating in the Mojave Desert of California, the Nevada plant is technologically advanced. While many parabolic mirror plants require as much as 25 percent natural gas fired back up to keep the mineral oil at an operating temperature, Nevada Solar One will use just two- percent natural gas back up. The parabolic mirrors are called troughs and follow the sun in its natural arc. The tracking motors are sophisticated and reliable according to engineers at the plant.
There are nine such plants operating in the Mojave Desert and when Nevada Solar One comes on line sometime in April it will operate with the latest technology available. Acciona of Madrid, Spain has solar and wind power generating plants operating in Spain and other countries and is considered one of the world leaders in the field.
Nevada Solar One is international in depth using technology from many countries. The German company Schott is providing the steel and glass tubes through which the mineral oil is pumped and Flabeg, also a German company is providing the mirrored troughs. The massive 75-megawatt turbine is from the Swedish company Siemens. Other contributing companies are Houston and Phoenix based.
During construction there has been controversy over where employees have been recruited. Many have come as worker-aliens from Central America, which has raised the ire of local workers groups and unions. As many as 750 people are involved in the construction project, but a full time staff of less than 30 will operate the plant. A 25-year contract with Sierra Pacific Resources will put Nevada Solar One energy on a main grid immediately. According to power officials, the 64-megawatts is sufficient to provide energy to more than 45,000 homes in the region. Sierra Pacific Resources operates Nevada's two main energy distribution outlets, Sierra Pacific Power Company in northern Nevada and Nevada Power Company in the south.
While many are familiar with the concept of solar voltaic cells in the form of solar panels, Nevada Solar One is huge in comparison and is specifically designed as a commercial producer of energy. The energy produced will put Sierra Pacific Resources very close to what the state is requiring them to distribute as far as renewable energy is concerned. Over a period of years the company will be required to have at least 25 percent of their energy produced by alternative sources such as solar, geothermal, and wind.
The Mojave Desert is to be home to another very large solar energy production plant to be built by Ecosystem Solar Electric Corporation and Power Plant Components, inc. Eight power plants in all will generate 165 megawatts of energy to be sold to Edison of southern California. The plants will use the same technology as Nevada Solar One.
While the concept of large commercial power plants has proven itself in southern California, and while Nevada Solar One is about to come on line, other companies have not joined the parade into the high mountain desert of Nevada. Researchers from the Desert Research Institute, located at University of Nevada Reno have said Nevada has thousands of locations that would be perfect for such operations.
A solar plant such as Nevada Solar One takes considerable land but uses little resources for production. Unlike geothermal and wind generating facilities, solar plants can be built near existing primary grids. Nevada's tourist offices promote the fact that there are hundreds of days of sunshine yearly in the Silver State, and that is the only resource needed for this renewable energy source.
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