Eco Factor: Solar thermal power plant capable of generating 340MW of electricity planned for Arizona.
The Mohave Sun Power company has created a single-purpose company called the Hualapai Valley Solar LLC to develop a solar thermal power plant in Mohave County, which when complete will generate a whopping 340MW of clean electricity. The system is based on the use of parabolic trough concentrators to enhance sunlight to 800 degrees.
The concentrators focus sunlight on thin tubes of transfer liquid, which is synthetic oil in this case. This oil is them pumped to a central power block, where hot oil goes to a boiler. Steam is produced in the boiler which is used to run a single steam turbine to generate electricity. If all goes according to plan, construction should begin in the second half of 2010 and the plant should be producing electricity by 2013.
Electricity generated by the plant will be purchased by California, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado. Apart from producing clean electricity, the plant is also estimated to generate over 1,500 jobs during construction phase and will require 100 employees after that.
Via: CleanTechnica
