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Mojave Solar Park: Large Three-Part Thermal Tower Solar Plant by Solel
Mojave Solar Park (MSP-1), to be built in the Mojave Desert, will be the largest solar thermal plant to date. The developer, Israel-based Solel Solar Systems, has signed a 25-year contract with PG&E for energy that the plant will produce. 1 2 The plant is to have a peak power of 553 megawatts and will cover 6,000 acres (24 square kilometers, or 9 square miles) of land. 3 4
| facility | location | footprint area | peak output power | peak efficiency | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| square miles | square kilometers | megawatts | watts per square meter | net efficiency | ||
| Mojave Solar Park 1 | Mojave desert near Nevada and west of Ivanpah Dry Lake |
9 | 24 | 553 | 23.04 | 2.30% |
The plant, which will use parabolic mirrors and patented UVAC 2008 solar thermal receivers, will have 1.2 million mirrors and 317 miles of vacuum tubing. The contract with PG&E is for the annual purchase of 1,388 gigawatt-hours of electricity. 5
The cost of the Park is estimated at $2 billion. The plan still awaits approval from the CPUC. 6
References
2. PG&E Signs Agreement With Solel for 553 Megawatts of Solar Power, 7/25/2007 [cached]
3. Israeli company to build largest solar park in world in US, ynetnews.com, 7/26/2007 [cached]
4. Solel's new 553 MW solar thermal plant, 7/25/2007 [cached]
5. California approves Solel-PG&E solar contract, uk.Reuters.com, 12/21/2007 [cached]
6. PG&E to buy electricity from massive solar park in Mojave Desert, SFGate.com, 7/25/2007 [cached]