U.S. approval for world’s largest solar power plant
The United States approved on Monday a permit for the largest solar energy project in the world – four massive plants at the cost of one billion dollars each in southern California. “The Blythe solar power plant will consist of four, 250-Megawatt plants, built on public lands in the sun-drenched Mojave desert,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. “When completed the project is expected to generate up to 1,000 Megawatts of energy… That’s enough electricity to power up to 750,000 average American homes and to make Blythe the largest solar power plant facility in the world.”
The total capacity will be roughly equal to the turbine output of a nuclear power plant or a large modern coal-fired power plant, according to Solar Millennium, the company developing the facility. Solar Millennium plans to begin construction on Blythe this year, the company says on its website. At the height of construction, the project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs.
The Blythe facility is one of a raft of renewable energy projects that have been approved in recent weeks by the Interior Department.
Earlier this month, Salazar approved the first five renewable energy projects on public lands, four in California and one in Nevada, both states that have been hard hit by the economic downturn.Two weeks ago, Salazar inaugurated the world’s largest wind tower manufacturing plant in Pueblo, Colorado, which will be run by Danish company Vestas Wind Systems.
Solar power plant in Seville, Spain
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It all makes too much sense, getting power from the sun sounds like devil worship.
I’ll go happy for it. Like to see a Bloom Box at the White House, too.
🙂
This is GREAT news!! With more investment, designs and efficiencies will continue to improve. Look at the difference between the first cars and the cars of today….hell, even against the cars of 20 years ago.
The potential for solar power in the US is nothing short of dynamic. Even the frost belt gets winter sun. Australia should be a world leader, but strangely it’s not, Germany is, hardly a Mediterranean climate.
We use solar power for some of our remote equipment, but it is strictly photo-voltaic. These big sites use light focusing on a central target to generate steam for turbine generators. Big potential!!