Solar Power Moves Ahead in California

Solar power continues to expand its presence as the California Commission gave the go-ahead for a 250-megawatt solar-thermal project.

 

The Beacon Solar Energy project will rely on rows of curved mirrors that will collect solar power from the sun and heat tubes filled with fluid to help run a steam turbine generator.

 

It appealed for the most part to environmentalists who frown upon solar power projects that ruin pristine habitats because the 2,012-acre site sits on land previously used for farming.

 

Developer NextEra Energy Resources further appeased environmentalists with its decision to use recycled municipal water rather than groundwater for the roughly 456 million gallons needed annually for the plant's wet-cooling process.

 

The race for solar projects in California comes as the state's three investor-owned utilities face a deadline to obtain 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2010, also when federal incentives for such renewable projects are set to expire.

 

The Blythe Solar Power Project in southeast California -- expected to produce 1,000 megawatts -- is just one of several projects in the state that BLM has tagged on its "fast-track" permitting schedule in an effort to meet the year-end deadline for federal incentives. Read more about California solar power projects here.

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