U.S. Government Approving More CSP Power Towers
The federal government is approving large concentrating solar power plants more quickly now. And, just last week, BrightSource Energy got some really good news. The government gave the company the approval to build a 370 megawatt “Power Tower” in California. While this certainly isn’t the first Power Tower, it is the first to be built on federal land.
The Ivanpah project, will use fields of mirrors that will concentrate sunlight to a central receiver. This new project will bring the total of federally approved solar projects up to 1,124 MW. The companies will need to start moving on the new projects so that they will be able to qualify for the Treasury grant program, which expires at the end of this year.