ARMY TO BUILD GIANT SOLAR POWER PLANTS

Army Offers 14,000 Acres for Solar; Clark Energy Group and Acciona Solar Power plan to build 500 megawatts of solar power projects at Fort Irwin in California and sell electricity to utilities.
July 31, 2009 (Greentech Media)

"Over the next 13 years, arrays of solar power generating equipment is set to rise from the vast U.S. Army base of Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert of California.

"It's an ambitious undertaking by the Army, which has selected Clark Energy Group and Acciona Solar Power to develop at least 500 megawatts of solar power projects. Five sites totaling 14,000 acres are available for the project…"

The Army will try out solar photovoltaic technology...(click to enlarge)

"The Army considers it a pilot project to meet its energy policy, which calls for conservation and the promotion of alternative energy generation…[the Army] intends to make some of its vast land holdings available for all types of renewable energy generation…The Fort Irwin solar project would cost roughly $2 billion, and the Army hopes to see the 500 megawatts completed by 2022…

"The project is still in the early stages of planning…Clark Energy and Acciona will be charting out an attack plan for securing the necessary permits, equipment and crews to start construction, which is expected to start in 2011…Acciona is known for building a 64-megawatt solar thermal project called Nevada Solar One in Boulder City, Nevada in 2007."

...and solar thermal technologies. (click to enlarge)

"The plan is to provide some of the power from the projects to Fort Irwin and sell the rest to private-sector buyers…Likely takers include the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power as well as Southern California Edison…

"The two developers plan to install both photovoltaic and solar thermal power plants at Fort Irwin, where the Army carries out combat training, and at NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. The solar project would have to be done without interfering with the fort's operations…The Army will lease land to Clark Energy and Acciona for the project and receive in-kind services in return…The project could expand by another 500 megawatts…"