Backers of a proposed 400 MW utility-scale solar thermal plant have sited the project near the path of major interstate natural gas pipeline and electric transmission corridors, illustrating where they and competitors likely will be looking to site similar solar-thermal developments.

Kern River Pipeline runs just to the north of BrightSource Energy Inc.’s proposed 3,500-acre, 5.3-square-mile high desert site just northwest of Interstate Highway 15 in California but close to the Nevada border, 48 miles south of Las Vegas.

“The site needs to be located in close proximity to high-voltage transmission lines with adequate existing and planned capacity, and to a natural gas transmission system with adequate capacity, along with having adequate water supply,” BrightSource’s application to the California Energy Commission (CEC) states. And, in fact, its Ivanpah project site meets all three requirements.

Running through the proposed project will be a 5.3-mile, 4- to 6-inch-diameter gas distribution pipeline that BrightSource would connect to Kern River’s interstate pipeline running east to west less than a mile north of the solar facilities’ northern-most boundary. Similarly, the solar developers will build a 115-kV transmission line to connect with the Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) high-voltage interstate transmission line, and the utility would develop a 115/220-kV substation between the first and second 100-MW phases of Ivanpah.

“Natural gas-fired boilers will be used to bring the steam up to operating temperature in the morning and periodically to keep system temperatures up when a cloud briefly blocks sunlight,” the BrightSource CEC application said, noting that the boilers are relatively small and not capable of operating for sustained periods of reduced sunlight.

BrightSource’s electrical transmission interconnections will link each of its plants to the power grid by connecting the overall Ivanpah plant switchyard to a new SCE substation (Ivanpah Substation), which the utility will construct, not just for BrightSource’s project but for other anticipated solar projects in the Mojave Desert.

The Ivanpah project could be only the first of several similar developments spread around the Mojave Desert in Southern California and in southern Nevada if it is able to realize current plans, a BrightSource executive told Power Market Today. And for any of the proposed plants, the proximity to the existing gas and electric infrastructure will be critical.

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