The first of three towers at the Ivanpah Solar Power facility is online and producing electricity. The heat of the sun is reflected by heliostats to a central tower to power steam turbines. The steam is air-cooled back into water, resulting in a 90% water savings over traditional solar power systems.
NRG Energy, Inc. announced that the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System produced its first output of energy when the Unit 1 station was synced to the power grid for the first time. Achieving this critical “first sync” is a major milestone for the project.
Wonderful, amazing news! Hopefully this will catch on in a huge way very quickly.