It has been a long, controversial and expensive road for BrightSource Energy, but their 392 megawatt concentrating solar plant is now finally delivering renewable energy to the California grid and it is the largest plant of its kind in the world.

Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System (ISEGS), which is comprised of 350,000 garage door-sized mirrors that reflect sunlight onto boilers atop 40 foot towers, is jointly owned by NRG Solar, Google and BrightSource Energy – a company that started out at Luz International in Israel.

In addition to offsetting roughly 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, the massive solar facility located roughly 50 miles northwest of Needles, California, will deliver solar power to roughly 140,000 homes via California utility companies PG&E and Southern California Edison.

Despite this enormous boost for solar energy, BrightSource Energy has taken a lot of heat from environmentalists and social activists for their five square mile solar project in the Mojave desert.

It took months to resolve the issue of relocating desert tortoises that call the desert home, to make way for thousands of concentrating mirrors, and Native Americans complained that the project destroys sites that are sacred to them.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the towers, which reach temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, have scorched an astonishing number of birds.

The paper also notes that the energy produced at Ivanpah will cost four times as much as natural gas and boasts a smaller generation capacity to land ratio than conventional plants. In other words, CSP projects like ISEGS require more land than fossil fuel plants.

Despite these downsides, the $2.2 billion plant will produce one third of all solar thermal energy in the United States, and potentially pave the way for similar projects to take flight as well.

:: WSJ

The post BrightSource’s Ivanpah, the world’s largest solar thermal project, is live appeared first on Green Prophet.

Slated for a site 36 miles west of Blythe, California, the 500MW Palen Solar Plant – a collaborative project between BrightSource Energy and Abengoa Solar – is meeting resistance from critics concerned about its light pollution.

BrightSource energy bought the Palen Solar Project when Solar Trust of America went bankrupt last year, My Desert reports.

At the time, the project had received state, but not federal approval, and now both BrightSource Energy and partner Abengoa Solar are required to undergo a whole new round of permitting.

As part of this process, two meetings were scheduled to give the public an opportunity to express their reservations about the project. And this time (BrightSource is no stranger to obstacles in its multi decade pursuit to provide clean solar energy), it isn’t the desert tortoise causing a ruckus, but light pollution.

“Excessive lighting could cause impacts to Joshua Tree National Park’s dark sky, said Seth Shteir from the National Parks Conservation Association. “That part of the park is the darkest part of the park.”

Famous for its namesake the unique Joshua Tree and its epic rock climbing opportunities, the park is said to be in the sight line of the solar power plant, which will incorporate two 750 foot concentrating solar power towers instead of solar trough technology.

Most of the light pollution will occur during the construction phase, which is expected to last two years, although the tall towers upon which hundreds of heliostats will concentrate sunlight will be visible from great distances as well.

The paper reported that both the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) have conducted separate environmental impact reports that reference the potential light pollution, and both dismiss it as being mostly a peripheral issue.

Businesses that rely on tourism for their bread and butter are far less nonchalant about the light pollution’s potential impact.

Paul Smith, who owns a small hotel, said that the towers would be visible from the Mojave National Preserve as well and urged for a more in-depth study that takes tourism and the local economy into greater consideration – even if the project is expected to generate jobs and reduce carbon emissions by 17 million tons over its 30 year lifetime.

“At least one-third of the park will be substantially affected,” Smith said of Joshua Tree National Park, according to My Desert.

“You have to deal with direct use benefits, community impacts, offsite benefits, scientific benefits, educational benefits, ecosystem service benefits. It’s hard to put into dollars.”

:: My Desert

Image of Joshua tree silhouette, Shutterstock

The post Joshua Tree Light Pollution Dims BrightSource Energy’s 500MW Palen Solar Project appeared first on Green Prophet.

BrightSource Energy may well be one of the most indefatigable companies on earth. After 20 years of solar dormancy brought about by cheap oil prices, what was once Luz International rose from the ashes to pursue development of the world’s largest solar thermal plant in California. That process has been mired by countless pitfalls, not least of which was the Bureau of Land Management’s decision to halt construction because the Ivanpah project threatened rare animal and plant species. But BrightSource forged ahead, got a little boost from Google, filed for an IPO on Earth Day in order to gather financial help, and has now asked for permission to build another two large plants that will feature the company’s newest evolution in solar thermal technology.

The largest solar plant in the world, when complete the Ivanpah solar energy generating station will produce a combined 392MW of electricity, but the new plants will bust that capacity out of the water with a combined production of 500MW.

BrightSource submitted their application for Certification with the California Energy Commission even though the Department of Energy’s loan guaranteed for renewable energy projects expire in September. Called the Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System, the project is slated to be built on a chunk of private land located roughly 40 miles south of Ivanpah.

It will require less land than the earlier SEGS thanks to a few novel changes to their technology. By making the central tower taller, BrightSource has realized that its heliostats can be placed closer together without losing any of its efficiency. Also, the mirrors will be placed almost directly on the ground in order to reduce the amount of construction materials needed and its overall footprint. This small but significant change in the plant’s setup will also minimize disruptions to the natural sites and vegetation will be permitted to grow freely around the heliostats.

Sustainable Business points out that BrightSource has not revealed whether they will incorporate their new molten salt technology into the Hidden Hills venture, if approved, but its hard to see why they wouldn’t. Any steps in efficiency bring solar that much closer to competing with fossil fuels and there’s no way these guys are going to stop this endless pursuit any time soon!

:: Sustainable Business

More on BrightSource Energy:

Google’s Largest Investment Ever Goes to BrightSource Energy

BrightSource Solar Raises Another $122 Million

BrightSource Energy’s Earth Day Public Debut

The post BrightSource Applies to Build Two More Solar Thermal Plants in California appeared first on Green Prophet.

Shortly after Google announced its largest investment to date in BrightSource Energy’s gargantuan solar thermal project, the Californian company filed its first $250 million public offering on Earth Day. Forbes calls this an initial test of the market’s appetite for utility-scale solar energy. A handful of blue-chip investors have invested millions of dollars in BSE’s promise, and the company is in the red by nearly $2 billion. But BSE disclosed in its IPO that its success hinges on the 370MW Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating Station, the implementation of which is imperiled by the desert tortoise.

Despite formidable obstacles, BrightSource Energy’s Arnold Goldman has pursued his solar vision since the 1970s. So close to being able to deliver enough energy to power 15 million homes at peak output on 110,000 acres of land in California, the company is nonetheless scourged with political constraints.

Despite a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee from the U.S. government, $168 million from Google, and investors such as Alstom, Morgan Stanley, Vantage point Venture Partners banking on the company’s success, it is not yet guaranteed.

BSE has to spend $12.9 million just to maintain its leases on federal property, while its debt and contractual obligations, according to Forbes, amounts to $1.8 billion.

“Our future success depends on our ability to construct Ivanpah, our first utility-scale solar thermal power project, in a cost-effective and timely manner,” the company stated in the filing. “Our ability to complete Ivanpah and the planning, development and construction of all three phases are subject to significant risk and uncertainty.”

Once Ivanpah is online and utility companies such as PG&E and Southern California Edison begin to purchase up to 2600MW in electricity, those investments might begin to pay off. In the meantime, BSE (and other solar companies) are haunted by lawsuits.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management told BrightSource that the discovery of more desert tortoises than were thought to exist (which are supposed to be relocated elsewhere in order to mitigate risk to their perilous survival) has forced the agency to delay the next phases of Ivanpah’s development.

“Any delay … in delivering required approvals or opinions could have a material adverse effect on the schedule for Ivanpah’s second and third phases and our business,” the company stated in its S-1 filing.

BSE is dangling on the precipice of enormous success, which could have far-reaching impacts on America’s renewable energy industry, and bitter failure.

:: Forbes

More on BrightSource Energy:

Obama Touts Israeli-Developed Solar Company BrightSource

BrightSource Gets A Billion

BrightSource Prepares for NASDAQ IPO

The post BrightSource Energy’s Earth Day Public Debut appeared first on Green Prophet.

Google has announced that it will invest $168 million in BrightSource Energy’s Solar Energy Generating System in the Mohave desert. Following a series of fits and starts dictated by the energy politics du jour, the world’s largest solar power plant finally broke ground in October, 2010. Google said in a press release that this investment amounts to their largest ever, and that they have now invested a total of $250 million in reliable, clean energy. Expected to be completed in 2013, BSE’s 392MW solar power plant will provide enough energy to take 90,000 cars off the road over its 25 year lifespan.

More on BrightSource Energy:

BrightSource Cuts World’s Largest Solar Energy Deal With SCE

California’s PG&E Signs Historical Solar Deal With BrightSource Energy

BrightSource One Step Closer to World’s Largest Solar Plant

The post Google’s Largest Investment Goes To BrightSource Energy appeared first on Green Prophet.

SolarEdge in England, fish farming, the pros and cons of desalination, and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment.

This past week BrightSource Energy joined the competition for contracts in Greece which must comply with EU guidelines for renewable energy usage. Some army bases and municipalities in Israel are set to install solar units and trees in Israel, Europe and North America are in danger of extinction. For these stories and more, see this week’s headlines below.

Solar
BrightSource Joins Last Minute Renewables Rush in Greece to Head Off EU Fines
“As an EU member, Greece has come up against its deadline to start to comply with the EU directive to get 20-30% renewable energy on the grid by 2020, so under the direction of glamorous physicist Tina Birbili, the new and savvy Minister of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, the coal-dependent nation is now actively seeking renewable energy…”

Enlight Signs Deals To Install Solar Units On IDF Bases and Municipal Rooftops
“Though it might be frigid in many parts of the world, it has been a sunny January for Israel-based Enlight Renewable Energy Solutions. So far this month, the photovoltaic (PV) solar power integrator has announced deals to install 13-16 small PV units for two different localities, as well as 45 PV solar installations for IDF bases. Investors in Enlight, a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, also have good cause to feel warm and fuzzy: The stock has delivered a handsome return of 154% over the past year…”

Newer Findings in the Efficiency of Thin Film Solar Cells Exposed
“Governments and researchers engaged in the development of solar technology are spending billions of dollars every year in developing an efficient technology to harvest solar energy and convert it into electric power cost-effectively…”

Engensa install UK’s first SolarEdge system
“Engensa recently installed the UK’s first micro-converter, a new technology that enables millions of otherwise unsuitable roofs to be used for solar PV by eliminating many of the problems associated with shading. The inverter was manufactured by SolarEdge, an Israeli-based leader in PV power optimization…”

Fishing
Israelis develop environmentally friendly fish farming
“Let’s assume that you live in the Jerusalem hills or in arid Las Vegas and you want to found a business to grow sea fish for food. Once upon a time, you would have had to migrate to the coast or lakeshore. Now it is possible to raise fish in the middle of the desert, even without a well for water, just plastic pools little different from what children play in, in backyards…”

Water
Israel sends wrong message about desalination
“SDL Desalination Ltd, a company owned by IDE Technologies and Hong Kong’s Hutchison Water, announced earlier this week that it has begun construction on the world’s largest reverse osmosis desalination plant. The plant, slated to be ready by 2013, is the final one of three that are intended to meet 44% of Israel’s water needs in 2013…”

General
Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference to Highlight Technological Innovation for Alternative Energy
“The Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Initiative today announced the agenda for its 4th International Eilat-Eilot Renewable Energy Conference & Exhibition taking place on February 22-24, 2011 in Eilat, Israel. This year’s event will present technological innovation, business opportunities, policies and implementations for renewable energy with a special focus on the programs for eliminating dependency on fossil fuels and promoting wider usage of alternative energy sources…”

Trees in danger of extinction
“Can you imagine Canada without the Maple Tree? Can you imagine America without the Pine Tree? Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel say such thinking is not so off-the-wall…”

Butterflies to Bat Yam
“Nature lovers spearhead efforts to transform Bat Yam into a butterfly paradise, attracting new species to the city’s streets…”

Missed last week’s headlines edition? Catch up on Israel’s Local Energy Center, highways that generate electricity, water monitoring, and more.

The post Israel Cleantech Intelligence: BrightSource and 8 More Headlines appeared first on Green Prophet.

The year 2010 was a big year for Israel’s solar industry. A groundbreaking renewable energy agreement was made to help the country meet its goal of producing 10% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020 while partnerships in solar energy distribution deals and more were signed by Israeli solar companies abroad. Here’s two videos recapping some of Israel’s most-promising companies in 2010 and 2011. The first video (above) focuses on solar in Israel and the second one focuses on it abroad. (click on the image to view)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8oL-xST14[/youtube]

The post In Video: Israeli Solar Tech in 2010 and 2011 appeared first on Green Prophet.

After all, the brains of BrightSource Energy, Israel-based BrightSource Industries, which is responsible for the plant design and engineering, used to be Luz.

Luz built the world’s pioneering solar thermal project in California’s desert, back in the Carter era ’80s, when, just like now, a truly rare green-minded US president promoted clean energy. Now, once again there is a massive resurgence in clean solar energy in the US, propelled by Obama administration funding under the Recovery Act.

But last time, we almost killed it.

The original project is still going strong thirty years later, having pumped out 14,000 gigawatt-hours of clean solar power to date from the California desert. Luz achieved the impossible, reducing the cost of wholesale solar thermal power from 24 cents to just 8 cents.

You’d think America would be glad of all that clean energy over all those years, but on the contrary, the regressive energy policy of the Reagan years bankrupted Luz within its early years, cutting short clean power in the US. Shortsighted tax preferences for the fossil energy industry killed the first solar thermal company in the world. The project was bought by a US utility. Luz returned to Israel and began again as BrightSource Industries.

Now the company, originally dreamed up by the visionary Arnold Goldman with engineer Israel Croizer, has risen again and is getting a second chance in California – with a new green president in America – our first since Carter to act on the need to build green power in the US.

Earlier this year the Obama administration offered BrightSource Energy a loan guarantee of $1.37 if the company could assuage the concerns of those who value 25 or so local tortoises over the rest of the world’s eco system endangered by climate change. It did. It cut down the size of the project and switched to dry cooling.

Oh, and it had to break ground by the end of 2010.

This week the ground was broken on BrightSource Energy’s 392 MW solar thermal site at Ivanpah, five miles from the California border, near a Nevada casino area, and well sited next to a natural gas electric power plant; so that it already has two major transmission lines.

The siting is both visionary – and environmentally sensible. Instead of extensive land grading, the mirrors are mounted on individual poles that are placed directly into the ground, allowing the solar field to be built around the natural contours of the land and avoid areas of sensitive vegetation.

This design also allows for vegetation to co-exist within the solar field. It will be air cooled, reducing – by 90% – its need for water. Only a hundred acre feet a year is needed to wash the mirrors. As climate change heats a nation that has foolishly favored fossil fuels, which cause climate change, which cause drought, which will shut down water thirsty fossil power plants – BrightSource Energy will still be pumping out our power.

As a Californian, I want to say thanks to Luz-BrightSource for all the clean electrons all these years, and sorry from America for our horrible and inconsistent energy policy. Let’s hope things go better this time!

Image: Desertec

The post Luz Rises Again as BrightSource for California appeared first on Green Prophet.

Israeli solar energy company BrightSource Energy and French power company Alstom have partnered to build solar thermal power plants throughout the Mediterranean and in Africa.

The plants will use BrightSource’s solution that relies on thousands of mirrors all focused on a central tower with a water boiler atop of it to heat the water and turn it to steam which then turns a conventional turbine that generates electricity.

According to John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy, the agreements,

“reflect the growing global demand for highly efficient, reliable and environmentally-responsible solar power plants. With decades of experience building power plants in these regions, Alstom is an ideal partner as we expand into these markets.”

This latest partnership comes after BrightSource raised $55 million from Alstom in May and ongoing news of the solar plant BrightSource is planning to build in the Mojave desert in California. The plant is set to be the largest solar energy plant in the world. The company is also expected to announce an IPO soon.

Neither company revealed a time frame for the Mediterranean “ring”.

Israeli solar technology company ZenithSolar revealed this week the third generation of its solar panel technology. The new technology combines heating and electricity in a manner that can make it affordable without government subsidies.

::GigaOm

Image via BrightSource Energy.

Related Stories on Solar Energy:
8 Israeli Companies Make “Global Cleantech 100″ Guardian List
Obama Touts Israeli-Developed Solar Company BrightSource
7 Solar Innovators From Israel That Could Fuel Our Planet

The post BrightSource, Alstom Partner on Solar Thermal appeared first on Green Prophet.

We pushed and pushed, and finally got what we asked for: non carbon-based energy. After years of weaving through red tape, the Israeli company BrightSource Energy finally received the go ahead to build the world’s largest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant in the California desert. When it is completed, it will double the amount of solar energy available in the United States.

It has emerged, however, that both BrightSource and Solar Millennium are stepping on toes and that their energy generation may be haunted: not only will the desert tortoise be relocated, but Native Americans suggest that the mirrors will displace other animals, as well as sensitive plants, and perhaps most controversially, the plants could destroy sites that are considered sacred to Native Americans.  “Phillip Smith, a Chemehuevi who’s an elder in the Colorado River Indian Tribe, and the Rev. Ron Van Fleet of the Fort Mohave Indian Tribe, call [Ivanpah] a sacred place. Their ancestors have come to these “altars” for centuries to worship the divine and admire the Mojave Desert,” according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The place Mr. Smith refers to is the intended site for BrightSource Energy’s CSP plant.

In addition, the desert tortoise, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, hawks, snakes, and important medicinal plants are in danger, though BrightSource has made plans to coordinate with specialists to remove the tortoises.

Solar Millennium’s Blythe Solar Project is said to threaten the Blythe Intaglios. These geoglyphs – petroglyphs carved into the ground – are best seen from above as a result of their immensity. Depicting various species of animals and potentially powerful individuals, they are crucial to Native American creation mythology. According to Brad Olsen, author of “Sacred Places North America: 108 Destinations,” the Mohave and Quechan Indians believe these figures represent Mastamho, who is the creator of all life.

In a petition addressed to the California Energy Commission and the Bureau of Land Management, activists complain that in an effort to secure government financial incentives that require building to commence by the end of 2010, these projects have been “fast-tracked,” without giving sufficient credence to the cultural heritage of Native Americans. Nearly 300 people have signed the petition.

Both BrightSource Energy and Solar Millenium retort that the Native Americans have had years to lodge complaints that are only surfacing now.

“Rachel McMahon, director of governmental affairs for Solar Millennium LLC, which has offices in Berkeley, said the project has been redesigned repeatedly to avoid archaeological sites, and the company will hire a tribal representative to monitor construction,” according to Press Enterprise.

An environmentalist from Nevada claims that there are other suitable sites on which to build.

“Solar energy is really necessary in the future but it doesn’t make any sense if we’re trying to save the environment and we destroy the best parts of it,” Hiatt told LVRJ.

Anthony Madrigal, the director of policy and cultural resources for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, told Press Enterprise “that tribes’ comments often fall on deaf ears and projects just go forward.”

In response to claims that any damage will be “mitigated,” he claimed that mitigation often only amounts to creating a written record, and that Native Americans think of it more as “destruction.”

:: Las Vegas Review Journal and Press Enterprise

More on BrightSource Energy:

94% of Americans Want Solar Energy. What About Israel?

Israel Cleantech Intelligence: BrightSource Energy and 9 More Headlines

BrightSource Prepares for NASDAQ IPO

image via cm195902

The post BrightSource & Solar Millennium Accused of Building on Sacred Indian Sites appeared first on Green Prophet.