The Solana Generating Station is a

solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic ef ...

plant near Gila Bend,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, about southwest of Phoenix, completed in 2013. When commissioned it was the largest

parabolic trough A parabolic trough is a type of solar thermal collector that is straight in one dimension and curved as a parabola in the other two, lined with a polished metal mirror. The sunlight which enters the mirror parallel to its plane of symmetry is fo ...

plant in the world and the first U.S. solar plant with molten salt thermal energy storage. Built by the Spanish company Abengoa Solar, it has a total capacity of 280

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

(MW) gross, from two 140 MW gross (125 MW net) steam turbine generators, which is enough to power 70,000 homes while avoiding around 475,000 tons of CO₂ every year. Its name is the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

term for "sunny spot".

Technology

The plant employs a proprietary concentrating solar power (CSP) trough technology developed by Abengoa, and covers an area of . Construction was expected to create about 1,500 construction jobs with the plant employing 85 full-time workers. Solar thermal plants use substantially more water for cooling than other solar generating technologies. Nevertheless, the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, w ...

supported the Solana plant, because it was built on private land, and was projected to use "75 to 85 percent less water than the current agricultural use."

Economics

Arizona Public Service Arizona Public Service (APS) is the largest electric utility in Arizona, United States. Since 1985, it has been the principal subsidiary of publicly traded S&P 500 member Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, known as AZP Group until 1987. Pinnacle ...

(APS) has contracted to purchase 100% of the power output generated from Solana, to meet the

Arizona Corporation Commission The Arizona Corporation Commission is the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Arizona, established by Article 15 of the Arizona Constitution. Arizona is one of only fourteen states with elected commissioners. The Arizona Constitution expl ...

's (ACC) mandate that the state's regulated utilities provide 15% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2025. APS will pay about 14 cents per kWh. The Solana plant was originally planned to open in 2011 and was estimated to cost $2 billion. In December 2010, Abengoa received a $1.45 billion

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the d ...

to support construction of the plant.

Energy storage

One of the principal advantages of concentrated solar thermal (CST) is that

thermal energy storage Thermal energy storage (TES) is achieved with widely different technologies. Depending on the specific technology, it allows excess thermal energy to be stored and used hours, days, months later, at scales ranging from the individual process, ...

can be provided efficiently, so that output can be provided after the sun goes down, and output can be scheduled to meet demand requirements. The Solana Generating Station is designed to provide six hours of energy storage. This allows the plant to generate about 38 percent of its rated capacity over the course of a year.

Production

Solana Generating Station's production is as follows, averaging 742 GW·h annual, yielding about 390 MW·h/acre. Maximum annual electricity production was projected at 900,000

MW·h A kilowatt-hour ( unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a unit of energy: one kilowatt of power for one hour. In terms of SI derived units with special names, it equals 3.6 megajoules (MJ). Kilowatt-hours are a common bi ...

(900 GW·h), as calculated using the project's and NREL specific capacity factors. In 2020, Solana Generating Station has averaged 82.4% of the projected production value. Nearby photovoltaic power station Agua Caliente, covering a larger site area of 2400 acres, had a Loan Programs Office projected generation of only 559 GW·h (instead yielding an average real 727 GW·h production).

Operations issues

The plant opened in 2014 and has experienced some problems since its opening. In the summer of 2017, the plant had two transformer fires.

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

environmental officials questioned whether the plant violated air pollution standards, and in 2016, fined the plant $1.5 million for violations of air quality standards. According to the ''Phoenix New Times'', "The plant’s parent company, a subsidiary of Abengoa called Atlantica Yield, downplayed the issues, and a company representative said that better times are likely ahead." According to government documents, the plant is expected to produce 900,000 MWh every year. This amount of electricity could power about 65,000 typical homes in Arizona. However, the plant produced only 600,000 MWh in its first full year of operation, according to information from the Federal Energy Information Administration. In 2015, the output increased to 700,000 MWh. In the summer of 2017, a microburst "knocked out the plant that July." but notwithstanding that, generation reached 723,966 MWh. A CSP thermal power block is like that of a coal or gas-fired plant, except its fuel is sunlight and require up to four years to ramp-up to 100% operating level.

References

External links

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Arizona Utility to Buy Power from a 280-Megawatt Solar Power Plant
* {{Generating stations in Arizona Solar power stations in Arizona Buildings and structures in Maricopa County, Arizona Solar thermal energy