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Xcel and Consortium to Build Central Station Solar Power Plant
December 21, 2007
Xcel Energy announced in early December that the
company has joined a consortium of utilities that will support
construction of a central-station solar power plant in the
Southwest. The plant would be owned by an independent operator, and
utility members of the consortium will commit to long-term purchase
power agreements.
The plant will be a concentrating solar power type
that uses mirrors to focus sunlight on a receiver, which, in turn
heats a heat transfer fluid and generates electricity in a
conventional steam turbine.
At current market prices, concentrating solar
power plants can compete with peaking power plants, but are more
expensive than base-load power plants. Utilities use peaking power
plants to operate during the daily hours of peak demand from
consumers, usually in the afternoon. These plants are mostly fired
by natural gas in the United States and cost several times what it
costs to operate a base-load plant that runs on coal or nuclear
fuels 24/7. Most existing concentrating solar power plants have
contracts with utilities to provide power for fixed hours during the
day, e.g., noon to 8 p.m. If sunlight is not available or if heat
storage runs low, solar plant operators run on natural gas for short
periods to meet their contract obligations.
For details about the potential of this
technology, see a presentation by NREL Solar Power Program
Technology Manager Mark Mehos to CRES members in November 2005
(PowerPoint format; note large file size).
http://cres-energy.org/documents/meetings/CSP_Southwest.pdf
The size, design and location of the solar plant will be determined
by a competitive contract. It is expected to have a rated capacity
of 250 megawatts (MW) and be located in either Arizona or Nevada.
When completed, it would be the largest solar power plant in the
Southwest.
The utility group is called the Southwest Energy
Service Provider's Consortium for Solar Development, and will be led
by Arizona Public Service Company. Also participating are the
Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, the Southern California Public
Power Authority, the Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power, and
Xcel Energy. For more information, see the Xcel December 6 press
release:
http://www.xcelenergy.com/XLWEB/CDA/0,3080,1-1-1_15531_34200-42878-0_0_0-0,00.html
See also a news story about the project published December 12 on the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy website:
http://www.eere.energy.gov/states/state_news_detail.cfm/
news_id=11474/state=AZ
This week, Sebelius’ opponents in the Kansas
Legislature called Sunflower representatives to testify in hearings.
The Sunflower testimony focused on the benefits of increased carbon
dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. They even launched a new slogan:
“Carbon dioxide is life.”
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