Rice Solar Energy Project
The Rice Solar Energy Project is a solar power project proposed to be located in a remote region of eastern Riverside County, CA. This site is previously disturbed and is on private land. The project will utilize SolarReserve’s innovative concentrating solar power technology with storage, and have the capability to produce a nominal 150 megawatts (MW) of energy.
If all permits are received by December 2010, the plant would be available for operation in 2013. The project will help meet the increasing demand for clean, renewable electrical energy in the US and help reduce reliance on fossil fuels and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the Rice solar plant will help meet the state’s Executive Order S-14-08, which is a goal to increase California’s Renewable Portfolio Standards to 33% of its electricity coming from renewable sources by 2020.
The proposed facility will use concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, and be equipped with an integral storage system. The technology generates power from sunlight by focusing energy from a field of sun-tracking mirrors called heliostats onto a central receiver. Liquid salt, which flows similar to water when melted, is circulated through the receiver, collecting the energy gathered from the sun. The heated salt is then routed to an insulated storage tank where it is stored with minimal energy losses. When electricity is to be generated, the hot salt is routed to heat exchangers to produce steam used to generate electricity in a conventional steam turbine cycle. The salt is then sent to the cold salt storage tank, ready to be reheated by the sun and reused the following day. The salt storage technology was demonstrated successfully at the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored 10-MW Solar Two project near Barstow, California.
Key Project Benefits:
- Help meet growing demand for clean, renewable energy sources.
- Incorporate energy storage which provides operating stability for the electricity grid and a cost-effective way to meet California’s peak electricity demand profile.
- Boost the local economy by creating up to 450 construction jobs and up to 50 permanent operating jobs, and also significant property tax revenues that will benefit the local community and region.