NRG lauds "first power" from 370-MW CSP complex in California

Sep 24, 2013 - US utility NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG) said today that the first of the three units at the 370-MW Ivanpah concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in California has exported first power to the grid.

The grid sync testing was an important milestone for the project that is a partnership of NRG, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and BrightSource Energy Inc. Construction group Bechtel is in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). Proof-of-concept on-grid testing at unit 2 and 3 will be carried out “in the coming months”.

The Ivanpah CSP project is located on approximately 3,500 acres (1,416 ha) of land in California's Mojave Desert managed by the US Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The project consists of three individual power plants which will feature BrightSource Energy's solar thermal power tower technology. Upon completion, the CSP complex will produce enough power for 140,000 households, its developers calculate.

The electricity generated by Ivanpah units 1 and 3 will be sold tо Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), while Southern California Edison (SCE) will be buying the output of unit 2 under separate power purchase agreements.

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