Large-scale solar thermal project synchronised with power grid
The Ivanpah concentrated solar power plant’s Unit 1 produced its first output of energy and was successfully synchronised to the California power grid for the first time last month.
The solar thermal project uses an array of mirrors to focus sunlight and heat on a central tower, which uses the energy to heat water in the tower that generates steam, which then drives power gen- eration turbines.
This successful test demonstrates the effectiveness of the station’s power-tower technology, which includes large heliostats that track the sun throughout the day, solar field integration software and a solar receiver steam generator, says energy company and Ivanpah joint owner NRG Solar president Tom Doyle.
Power generated from Ivanpah’s initial sync testing will be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which has a power purchase agreement (PPA) for energy produced from the plant’s Unit 1 station. Power generated from Ivanpah’s Unit 3 station will also be sold under a PPA with PG&E, while Unit 2 is under a PPA with Southern California Edison.
Proof-of-concept testing will also be conducted at units 2 and 3 in the coming months.
“Ivanpah is the showcase project for solar thermal power company BrightSource Energy’s power-tower tech- nology and technical expertise. Validation at this scale demonstrates the viability of our technology, as BrightSource increases its focus on international markets and on applications for concentrated solar power,” says BrightSource Energy executive chairperson David Ramm.
The 377 MW Ivanpah solar electric generating system is located in California’s Mojave Desert and is currently the largest solar plant under construction in the world. Power generated by the plant is equivalent to 400 000 t of carbon dioxide a year that would have been produced by coal-fired power plants.
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