US First Solar Thermal Power Plant- The New Way of Energy

A 110-MW solar thermal power plant recently received the go-ahead from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. This project, the fist of its kind in the US will be located in Nevada, specifically 13 miles of Tonopah in the desert, and will be using 1,776 acres of federal land.

_{First solar thermal power plant Courtesy of Afloresm}

This solar thermal power plant will have the capacity of generating up to eight hours after dark and during cloudy days. The estimated project cost will be near the $800 million to complete and will be starting later this year. The company in charge of the project is Solar Reserve, and actually is negotiating with an engineering-procurement-construction contractor.

The project will consists of a circular field with an approximate area near 2-sq-mile, with 17,000 heliostats, or sun tracking reflective mirrors. These mirrors will concentrate daylight to a 100-ft-tall receiver atop a 538-ft-high, 85-ft-dia. tapered concrete tower. Liquid salt circulates through the receiver's heat exchangers where it reaches 1050°F. Next, molten salt is routed through a steam turbine that generates electricity before discharging into an insulated storage tank at 525° for reuse.

This technology has been already tested on the10-MW Solar Two project near Barstow, Calif. In solar thermal power plants the incoming radiation is tracked by large mirror fields which concentrate the energy towards absorbers. They, in turn, receive the concentrated radiation and transfer it thermally to the working medium. The heated fluid operates as in conventional power stations directly (if steam or air is used as medium) or indirectly through a heat exchanging steam generator on the turbine unit which then drives the generator.

The plant additionally uses a hybrid cooling system that requires less than 600-acre-ft of water annually or about half as much as traditional wet-cooled power plant. About 9.5 miles of above ground electrical transmission lines connecting to a substation north of the plant are included in the project.

Benefits of Solar Thermal Power Plants

Solar thermal power plant technologies are important candidates for providing a major source of clean and renewable energy needed in the future, because

• Solar thermal power stations are among the most cost-effective renewable power technologies;
• They promise to become competitive with fossil-fuel plants within the next decade,
• Solar thermal power stations are already today of well-proven and demonstrated technology;
• Solar thermal power stations are now ready for more intensified market penetration;
• Accelerated grid-connected applications will lead to further innovation and cost reduction

Nevada power providers must get 25% of their electricity from green sources by 2025, as per a state mandate.