Nov 9 2010
Both South Africa and the U.S. are competing to construct two massive solar farms, which would help them in establishing themselves as solar technology hubs. The US could probably claim to be the largest solar project with 1 GW capacity in California’s Blythe for now.
This project is sponsored by Solar Millennium, a German firm, and is expected to be spread across 7000 acres, and in due course furnish energy for 750,000 homes. According to Ken Salazar, US Secretary of the Interiors, the project is the highpoint in America’s renewable energy industry, and it also gives proof that the government supports the low carbon sector.
Solar farm
The company is trying to obtain a $1.9 billion loan from the US Department of Energy, and has plans of commencing the project by the end of the year. Enormous parabolic troughs are used to focus the heat from the sun on a fluid tube to convert it to steam, which would power a turbine divided into four phases, where each unit generates around 250 MW power.
On the other hand, the title world’s largest solar station could be shifted to South Africa with plans of a £18.4bn solar project to generate 5 GW of electricity very shortly. The Guardian reveals that this project was being planned by the country’s government to fulfill around 10 % of energy needs in South Africa. A meeting is being planned, where around 200 probable investors would listen to the plans presented by an US engineering firm Fluor, for an area of 9000 hectares in Northern Cape. These plans are supported by a viability study done by the Clinton Climate Initiative. According to specialists, the whole solar farm would be finished by 2020.
The Project Manager, Jonathan de Vries, informed the Guardian that the largest solar farm was situated in Northern Cape, which is the perfect location, having minimal rains and no clouds. He stated that this location surpassed even the Sahara desert, as this location would never be plagued by sandstorms.
Information about another renewable energy project in Africa was also broadcast. GDC (Geothermal Development Company) plans to construct a 2 GW capacity power plant, ready for operation by the year 2015, with the support of the Kenyan Government.