Posted on 03/01/2008 3:28:56 AM PST by PeaceBeWithYou
Abengoa Solar Purchases 3,000 Acres for $1 Billion Solana Generating Plant
Abengoa Solar, a Spanish-based solar energy company, has purchased roughly 3,000 acres near Gila Bend, AZ, where it intends to develop the world's largest solar power plant.
An investment entity associated with Brandon Wolfswinkel of Tempe, AZ, sold the land for $45.12 million, or about $14,700 per acre.
Abengoa Solar, which has solar plants in Spain and northern Africa, will construct and operate the 280-megawatt, $1 billion facility known as the Solana Generating Plant. The plant will use thousands of giant mirrors covering 1,900 acres to harness the sun's heat (rather than its light) to turn steam turbines, generating electricity.
The plant is scheduled to go into production in 2011. It will be able to power 70,000 households while avoiding more than 400,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to Abengoa.
Arizona Public Service, the state's largest utility, has agreed to purchase the energy from Abengoa over the next 30 years. "This is a major milestone for Arizona in our efforts to increase the amount of renewable energy available in the United States," stated Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. "Arizona is leading the way in protecting our world for future generations through increasing the amount of renewable energy, combating climate change, fighting for air quality and much more. This plant will offer Arizonans a clean and efficient source of energy."
If we grow corn for fuel and take up land for solar power; where do we grow our food? We are losing a lot of farm land to housing, and now fuel. We may end up with an abundance of fuel at some point and no food. I’m only wondering about this because there was an article about food shortages a few days ago due to corn being diverted into fuel. I wonder if the land used for this project is being diverted from farm ground or if it was just open land?
This seems like a good thing, I just hope everyone remembers we have to eat.
That’s not a lot of generating capacity. A large coal or nuclear plant is typically about 1,000 megawatts. A large single unit gas fired combustion turbine will produce 200+ megawatts.
How efficient are these panels when they have a foot or 3 of snow on them? What’s the cost savings during the annual 20% of total sunny days from November to February in the Great Lakes region? Will a homeless man on a bicycle with a generator be more cost worthy?
It’s interesting how we have not done any studies of the effect of cutting off that much radiant energy to the earth surface.
These environmental wackos do not understand the symbiosis involved between the earth and the sun.
It has been proven, soil and items living within it die when cut off from the suns raiant energy.
These idiots are slowing dooming this planet just to make hollywood morons feel good.
This is the Arizona desert. You do not grow corn where there is no rain but PLENTY of heat.
West Texas is already producing much more energy than this plant, with its abundant wind energy, by the way.
They don’t work when covered with snow and thier capacity is cut in half by dust covering them. Guess what happens in the desert?
I'm convinced that the continental USA is simply too far north for solar energy to be practical. Go with coal and nuclear power. We have plenty of resources for both.
I dont think this is about light, its about heat. If you take a magnifying glass and focus the suns heat into something that produces steam, and or you take a satellite dish and focus the sun at a specific point, you can generate large amount of heat. this is already used elsewhere and is proven to work. Also Arizona land and climate isnt really suited for growing crops.
Bogart uses these panels as a mirror while shaving for the movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Am I close?
I currently have a single 1.3GW (yes that's "G" as in Gigawatt) generator rotor from a California nuke plant in my shop in Virginia for a complete rewind, and dynamic testing . The plant has two units the same size. I had their spare rotor in the shop a year and a half ago, and the other unit several years ago when So Cal Edison had a grid shortfall and was doing rolling "brown-outs". We had half their needed generating capacity sitting on a lathe here in Richmond.
I dont think this is about light, its about heat. If you take a magnifying glass and focus the suns heat into something that produces steam, and or you take a satellite dish and focus the sun at a specific point, you can generate large amount of heat. this is already used elsewhere and is proven to work. Also Arizona land and climate isnt really suited for growing crops.
“How efficient are these panels when they have a foot or 3 of snow on them?”
I have heated side mirrors on my Impala. Why not have heated solar panels where they’re needed? (j/k)
If some private company wants to build a toy in the middle of the desert, that is fine, but forcing the people to buy from this company will not provide any incentive for the company to operate efficiently, or give the best value to its captive customers.
I lived in that area at one time- there were quite a few farms, mostly cotton- but some corn, maize, melons, onions, lettuce, etc. and also feed crops for cattle and other livestock. There were also several feedlots there where cattle were finished for beef, this was 30 years ago, so I don’t know what is going on there now. Depending on exactly where this is, it might not be the stark desert at all. One reason I wondered if they diverted farm land was the price they paid and the idea that it seems it would be easier to install the solar mirrors on land that had already been cleared and leveled.
Wind power makes more sense to me; here in New Mexico there is plenty of wind and though there are no wind farms in this part of the state I am sure there will be one day.
LLS
70,000 household at a price tag of $1 BILLION. Anyone see the problem here?
This is not true, many crops are successfully grown in the Arizona desert, usually irrigated out of the rivers. Agriculture is what made the Phoenix area grow in the early days. The land is fertile, the growing season is long- the only thing at issue is water. Areas that cannot be watered from the rivers tends to be the stark desert that most think of in Arizona but don't get the idea that Arizona is not a good place to farm. Of course farm land is being covered up with houses these days, but at one time a lot of food was grown in Arizona- and it still is an important part of Arizona's economy.
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