Project Details:Top

Utility Name:	NV Energy
Utility Type:	IOU
Funding Source(s):	RPS charges
State:	Nevada | NV
Region:	West
Utility Program(s):	Centralized Solar System: Thermal,Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
Technology:	PV

Project Description:Top

Nevada Solar One is a solar thermal-electric plant with a 64 MW rated capacity located in the Nevada desert owned by Acciona Energia. The electricity is purchased by NV Energy (formerly Nevada Power/Sierra Pacific Power).

The plant has 47 miles of parabolic cylinder concentrators with mirrors that concentrate sunlight onto receiver tubes. The receivers heat a special heat transfer fluid oil to 300 degrees Celsius which is then circulated through the mirror field to heat exchangers. These hold water that boils to drive a 75MW Siemens reheat steam turbine, which is very similar process to a natural gas plant. During short-term cloudy conditions, additional heating (from natural gas) is used to bring the heat transfer fluid to a boil to stabilize the output and prevent freezing of the oil, which can occur at less than 55 F. However, the natural gas provides only 2% of the total heating requirements, and is generally not used to continue output during longer periods of cloud cover.

The $250 million facility took 16 months to be built and is designed to produce 134 million kilowatt hours (kWh) a year. Groundbreaking started in February 2006, and the plant came online in June 2007. It is located in Boulder City, 40 kilometers southwest of Las Vegas, and sprawls across a total surface area of 14 million square feet. There are 28 full-time positions on staff to maintain and operate it.

The electricity is purchased by NV Energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The purchase helps the utility offset the requirements for the production of electric power from renewables - 20% of the electricity consumption in 2013, with 5% exclusively from solar energy.

The initial project developer was Solargenix Energy, formerly Duke Solar. In 2006, Spanish company Acciona Energia bought a 55% stake in Solargenix, and the company now owns the whole project.

Solar One is to date the largest solar-thermal electric power plant built in the US since the 1980s.

Project Links:Top

General Project Description: http://www.nevadasolarone.net/

Video: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea//news/article/2007/03/nevada-solar-one-video-47845

NV Power Solar Projects:  http://www.nevadapower.com/renewablesenvironment/renewables/solar.cfm

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