| By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Published September 3, 2008
A company that specializes in the development and construction of solar power generating facilities is planning to build a solar power plant on the Mormon Mesa just east of the Moapa Valley. Current plans for the facility anticipate a 2400 acre facility which would produce 400 megawatts of solar power to be in operation by 2014. Executives from Bright Source Energy visited the area recently and met with Overton Power District and Mesquite City Council members to discuss the project. |
 Artist’s rendering aerial view of the type of solar power generating facility that is being proposed for the top of Mormon Mesa on 2400 acres just east of Moapa Valley. |
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| Initial plans conceived of a much larger facility in the area which would have the capacity for generating 1200 megawatts and would be over 7200 acres. “In a perfect world we would like to do this project in three phases,” said Doug Buchanan of Bright Source Power. But he said that the strict regulatory process and the changeability in the market would make a project of that size difficult to accomplish all at once. “Frankly, I’m not sure that there is even enough real estate in that area to do that big of a facility,” Buchanan added. But the company still holds out the distant possibility of additional phases in the project being constructed in the future, Buchanan said.
The proposed location for the facility is a 2400 acre plot of land with its northern edge adjacent to the current OPD power line alignment that originates near the fairgrounds in Logandale. The southern edge of the facility would border near the Mormon Mesa Road which originates from Airport Road in Overton. The plant would be constructed on the mesa about a quarter mile from the west edge. The facility would be solar-thermal, using heat from the sun to create steam to spin turbines and create electricity. To collect the solar energy, thousands of large mirrors would be installed at the facility. Each mirror unit measures about 160 square feet in size. Arrays of these mirrors would be arranged in a circle around towers that are about 450 feet tall. The heat from the sun is focused from the mirrors to a collector point on top of the towers. That collective heat is enough to run a conventional steam turbine generator and create power. The plant design proposes a special dry cooling technology which saves on water use at the plant. The facility would be able to operate on about 100 acre feet of water per year. A conventional power plant uses about 3000 acre feet per year of water, Buchanan said. Bright Source would work with Moapa Valley Water District and the Southern Nevada Water Authority to secure enough water resources to supply its water needs, Buchanan said. The purpose of the facility would be to help meet peak power demand in the region. Buchanan explained that during the hot summer months, the Southwestern United States sees a daily spike in demand for power. At the same time that spike occurs, there is an opportunity for peak solar power production. “It is unique to this part of the world that the peak capability for power generation coincides exactly with the hours of peak demand,” Buchanan said. The power generated by the proposed plant would be put onto the grid and sold as a commodity to meet peak demand. Bright Source currently has contracts with utilities in Southern California which this facility would help to service. A high demand for renewable energy exists in that state since the California legislature recently adopted aggressive standards that requires a percentage of the state’s power consumption to come from renewable sources. The company currently has no contract agreements to provide power to Nevada utilities. But Bright Source has discussed the possibility of reserving a portion of the power generated for Overton Power District to institute a green power option for its customers. This would allow OPD ratepayers the opportunity to opt-in to a program where a percentage of their power was ‘green’. Since the cost of solar energy is currently higher than conventional sources, these customers would also opt-in to paying a premium for that renewable resource. Bright Source officials have also had discussions with Overton Power about using the district’s power transmission lines to convey power onto the regional grid. “We can’t accomodate the loads that they are considering with our current lines,” said OPD General Manager, Delmar Leatham. But an update to those transmission lines is already part of the district’s plans. OPD has been working for over a year to obtain right of way and to satisfy environmental regulations from the BLM to update the line from Logandale to Riverside. Bright Source officials have expressed a willingness to participate in a cooperative effort to upgrade those lines. “They seem willing to talk about sharing the cost of that project,” Leatham said. “That would be good for us and for our ratepayers.” Once in operation, the plant would provide a strong employment base in the community. The personnel needs in a solar plant are similar to those of a traditional power plant, Buchanan said. The facility would employ about 50 people full-time, using mostly skilled and semi-skilled workers. Buchanan stressed that there is a long way to go for the Mormon Mesa facility to become a reality. “We are at the beginning of a rigorous environmental process,” he said. The company has filed an application on the land with the BLM. It has completed the initial environmental assessments including a spring survey. This survey begins to determine what types of plant and animal life currently exists in the area. The company plans to file a Notice of Intent with the BLM at some point toward the end of this year. This will begin a long public process which will involve numerous public hearings to produce an Environmental Impact Statement. All of this will involve feedback from the community, Buchanan said. “We are certainly not trying to hide anything from the public at this point,” Buchanan said. “But we are still in the very early stages of the process.” |
