Although the General Plan Amendment and Area Plan now has to go before the Mohave County Board of Supervisors on 16 November before it can be definitively approved, passing this latest hurdle takes the Hualapai Valley Solar Project one step closer to realisation.
Mohave Sun Power Executive Director, Mitchell Dong, stated: “We are very pleased that the Commissioners recognised the economic benefits of the Project and our unique use of reclaimed water”.
The Hualapai Valley Solar Project involves the construction of a 340 MW solar trough plant with 8 hours of thermal energy storage. The plant, located 30 miles north of Kingman (Arizona) and 100 miles southeast of Las Vegas in the Hualapai Valley will also use innovative solutions to reduce its impact on the environment.
Solar thermal electric plants have historically required huge amounts of water for cooling and cleaning but as Mohave Sun Power Managing Director, Greg Bartlett, explains: “the primary water source for the project will be treated wastewater from a sewage treatment plant owned by the City of Kingman. The water will be used by the facility’s cooling towers and for mirror washing”. Kingman Mayor John Salem said: “The City is totally committed to providing treated wastewater to Hualapai Valley Solar”, while City Council member Robin Gordon also gave his support for the project: “I’m in favour of this. Solar is a much better use of the property than the previous plan [a large residential development].”
The power plant will interconnect to the grid via the 500 kV Mead Phoenix Project transmission system that runs between the Hoover Dam area and Phoenix. A system impact study for the project, showing no system upgrades were necessary to accommodate the new facility, was approved by the transmission system owners in July.
Potential power purchasers include utilities in Arizona, California and Nevada. Power companies in these states have requirements to purchase 15-33% of their power from renewable sources in the 2010-2020 time frame, depending on the state, and electricity supplied by the Hualapai Valley Solar plant will help these utilities meet these alternative energy standards.
Mohave Sun Power recently issued an RFP to construct the facility to qualified contractors and equipment suppliers and bids are expected by late October.
For additional information:
