The Sandstone Solar Energy Project was an up to 1,600
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), 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 quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...
(MW)
solar thermal power project with 16 gigawatt-hours of energy storage,
planned just to the east of
Tonopah, about northwest of
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. The project was about up to eight 200 MW
solar towers with integrated
molten salt energy storage technology. The project, developed by SolarReserve and owned by Sandstone Solar Energy, LLC. was anticipated to cost about $5 billion. Planned energy output is 5,600
GW·h
A kilowatt-hour (unit symbol: kW⋅h or kW h; commonly written as kWh) is a non-SI unit of energy equal to 3.6 megajoules (MJ) in SI units, which is the energy delivered by one kilowatt of power for one hour. Kilowatt-hours are a common b ...
per year.
The project includes
heliostat
A heliostat
()
is a device that reflects sunlight toward a target, turning to compensate for the Sun's apparent motion.
The reflector is usually a plane mirror.
The target may be a physical object, distant from the heliostat, or a direct ...
s that collect and focus the sun's thermal energy to heat
molten salt
Molten salt is salt which is solid at standard temperature and pressure but liquified due to elevated temperature. A salt that is liquid even at standard temperature and pressure is usually called a room-temperature ionic liquid, and molten salts ...
flowing through a
solar power tower
A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or 'heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's ra ...
. The molten salt circulates from the tower to a storage tank, where it is then used to produce steam and generate electricity. Excess thermal energy is stored in the molten salt and can be used to generate power for up to ten hours, including during the evening hours and when direct sunlight is not available. The storage technology also eliminates the need for any backup fossil fuels, such as natural gas.
Estimated construction start was in 2022. Each tower was constructed within a 24-month construction cycle, staggered 6 months, expecting about years to complete.
In March 2019, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management confirmed that Sandstone Solar Energy has withdrawn its application for a construction and operation right-of-way on federal land for this project.
On 15 April 2019, Sandstone Solar Energy filed for withdrawal of the application for a permit to construct the solar plant and requested closure of the relevant docket (No.17-08003). The Commission acknowledged the filing and closed the docket the same day.
[
]
See also
* List of solar thermal power stations
This is a list of the largest facilities generating electricity through the use of solar thermal power, specifically concentrated solar power.
Operational
Under construction
Announced
Cancelled
Decommissioned
* Eurelios ...
* Renewable energy in the United States
A renewable resource (also known as a flow resource) is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of t ...
* Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy (STE) is a form of energy and a technology for harnessing solar energy to generate thermal energy for use in Industrial sector, industry, and in the residential and commercial sectors. Solar thermal collectors are classified ...
Notes
External links
*
{{Solar power in the United States
Solar power stations in Nevada