WIRES FOR SOLAR POWER TOWER GET GO

Secretary Salazar Approves Transmission for Solar Thermal 'Power Tower' Project in Southern California; 150 MW Facility Will Generate Up To 450 jobs, $48 Million in Tax Revenue
December 8, 2011 (Bureau of Land Management)

"…[After extensive environmental review and mitigation of impacts, the U.S. Department of the Interior] approved a transmission line, access road and substation on public lands that will connect a 150-megawatt solar energy project to the power grid in California. The proposed project, Rice Solar Energy Project, will be built on private land in Riverside County and, when constructed, the facility is expected to power 68,000 homes, create up to 450 jobs, and generate more than $48 million in state and local tax revenue over the first 10 years of operation…"

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"Proposed by Rice Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of SolarReserve LLC, the thermal ‘power tower’ facility will be located on 1,410 acres of previously disturbed private land near Blythe. The above-ground 230 kilovolt transmission line that crosses eight miles of land administered by Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will connect with the Western Area Power Administration's Parker-Blythe #2 transmission line. The project’s innovative molten salt storage system can capture solar energy and deliver power to the grid even after the sun goes down…"