First Large-Scale Solar Thermal Plant in Two Decades Will Use Recycled Water

It looks like solar developers are finally realizing the value of water. A large-scale concentrating solar thermal plant proposed in Kern County, California has been approved by California regulators after developers agreed to cool the plant with reclaimed water that will be piped in from a neighboring community.

As the New York Times Reports:

California regulators on Wednesday approved a license for the nation’s first large-scale solar thermal power plant in two decades.

The licensing of the 250-megawatt Beacon Solar Energy Project after a two-and-a-half-year environmental review comes as several other big solar farms are set to receive approval from the California Energy Commission in the next month.

In March 2008, NextEra Energy Resources filed an application to build the Beacon project on 2,012 acres of former farmland in Kern County. Long rows of mirrored parabolic troughs will focus sunlight on liquid-filled tubes to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine.

Some rural residents immediately objected to the 521 million gallons of groundwater the project would consume annually in an arid region on the western edge of the Mojave Desert. After contentious negotiations with regulators, NextEra agreed to use recycled water that will be piped in from a neighboring community.

This is the second large-scale solar project winning the approval of environmentalists and California regulators alike in the last couple of weeks, signaling that solar developers are adequately addressing the concerns raised by environmentalists – chief among them, that solar projects will increase burdens on already strained water supplies.

The Beacon concentrating solar thermal project that was just approved has more or less solved its water problems by agreeing to use recycled wastewater for its cooling needs. A solar project approved earlier in the month cut down water use by using photovoltaic solar technology, which only requires water for cleaning dust of the panels. Some solar developers have even proposed cutting down trees to alleviate their water woes.

There are a number of ways that large-scale solar thermal projects can minimize their impacts on water supplies. For more information, check out the Department of Energy report to Congress: Reducing Water Consumption of Concentrating Solar Power.