Posted: Feb 15, 2014 3:19 PM GSTUpdated: Feb 15, 2014 4:25 PM GST
Posted by: Jon Miller, Assignment Editor - email
Feb. 11, 2014: Some of the 300,000 computer-controlled mirrors reflect sunlight to boilers that sit on 459-foot towers. The sun's power is used to heat water in the boilers' tubes & make steam, which drives turbines to create electricity in Primm, Nev.
(FOX) A stretch of the Mojave Desert has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, but the milestone is being met with criticism from environmental groups concerned about the effect of solar energy on desert wildlife.
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opened Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating tortoises to assessing the impact on plants.
The $2.2 billion complex of three generating units, owned by NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy, can produce nearly 400 megawatts - enough power for 140,000 homes. It began making electricity last year.
Google announced in 2011 that it would invest $168 million in the project. As part of its financing, BrightSource also lined up $1.6 billion in loans guaranteed by the Department of Energy.
Using technology known as solar-thermal, nearly 350,000 computer-controlled mirrors roughly the size of a garage door reflect sunlight to boilers atop 459-foot towers. The sun's power is used to heat water in the boilers' tubes and make steam, which drives turbines to create electricity.
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