Solar Energy Thermal Power Plant Opens in California

On October 23, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California in cooperation with Ausra Inc. , a large solar energy manufacturer and developer, started the first solar thermal power plant built in California in twenty years. The Kimberlina Solar Energy Facility was built by Ausra Inc. and at full capacity it will generate 5 MW of electricity or enough to power 3,500 homes located in central California.


In his own words Governor Schwarzenegger stated, "this next generation solar power plant is further evidence that reliable, renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay, and it will lead to more California homes and businesses powered by sunshine, not only will this large-scale solar facility generate power to help us meet our renewable energy goals, it will also generate new jobs as California continues to pioneer the clean-tech industry." Two years ago California passed a bill requiring a rollback in greenhouse gases to the 1990 level by the year 2020. This would represent a 25 percent reduction. The governor said the Kimberlina solar thermal power plant will help the state in trying to reach that goal.

The first solar plant in the country to utilize Ausra's technology. This facility is a different type of facility with which most people are familiar. They don't use photovoltaic solar panels, which convert the light from the Sun into electricity and are often mounted on rooftops, this solar thermal facility uses large arrays of mirrors to concentrate and capture the Sun's heat, converting it into electricity and relevant energy.

This process will produce high temperature steam for process plants and other industry challenges, solar concentrators use directed concentrated sunlight to boil water. The large turbines in power plants (nuclear and fossil fuel) use steam to power their generators. Electricity is the main objective and is being produced now in this fashion. The concern is that financing must be available, and will all utilities contribute to financing projects using renewables.

Ausra is developing a low cost thermal storage system that will store thermal energy and make it possible to generate electric power on demand. Their core technology is called the Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector solar collector and steam generator. It was developed first at Sydney University in the early 1990's. It was used in the commercial setting first by Solar Heat and Power Pty Ltd. in Australia in 2004. It is currently used in a much more finalized design on a much larger scale by Ausra all over the world. In the words of Robert Morgan, executive vice president and chief development officer for Ausra, "behind these striking, 1,000 foot long mirrors is a design philosophy that uses an elegant simplicity to lower costs and accelerate our ability to deliver at large scale and on schedule, making solar power much more of a player in our collective energy future." Bob Fishman, Ausra chairman CEO and president said, "Kimberlina represents more than an industry milestone, it represents the best of American and Australian ingenuity and get-it-done attitude. I'm particularly proud of the best of Ausra employees who designed and built this plant safely in five months, with zero loss-time accidents and entirely with private capital."

An event was held to launch the facility and Pacific Gas & Electric executive Peter Darbee pledged that his company would never forget it's commitment to curb global warming. He stated, "climate change is a very, very serious problem. "