The California Energy Commission (CEC) unanimously approved construction of the 250-MW Beacon Solar Energy Project last week. The project, proposed for construction in Kern County by a NextEra Energy subsidiary, is the first solar thermal plant permitted by the state in 20 years.
The project is a parabolic thermal solar power facility that would be built on about 2,012 acres on the western edge of the Mojave Desert, four miles from California City and 15 miles north of the town of Mojave.
The commission adopted the presiding members’ proposed decision (PMPD) that recommended licensing the facility because it would have no “significant impacts on the environment and complies with applicable laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards,” the CEC said in a statement.
The decision “was based solely on the record of facts that were established during the facility’s certification proceeding,” the commission said.
Among the issues considered by the commission was the significant use of water required by concentrating solar plants, resources of which are scarce in the Southwest. According to the commission, the project will use treated recycled water for cooling purposes from California City or the Rosamond Community Sanitary District. Up to 1,400 acre-feet per year of recycled water are expected to be used for cooling and 153 acre-feet per year of groundwater from wells for washing mirrors and employee use.
The last solar thermal power plants approved by the commission were Luz Solar Electric Generating Systems (SEGS) IX and Luz SEGS X—also parabolic trough plants—in February 1990.
Sources: California Energy Commission, POWERnews
