Project "Ivanpa": or how giants invest in renewable energy
In recent years, so-called renewable energy sources (RES) are being used more and more often. Such ways for humanity is not new. We all know about alternative energy sources such as wind, solar energy, ebb and flow, and so on. And if at one time they talked about renewable energy sources as something new and unusual, then now more and more large companies are investing such methods of obtaining energy.
Undoubtedly, the biggest advantage of this energy is its inexhaustible, hence the concept of "renewable". This allows large companies to save millions of dollars. Also, many experts refer to the environmental friendliness of such projects, but it is still not completely clear.
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So, for example, Apple has a station for the production of solar energy of 400 thousand square meters. And Google has placed thousands of wind turbines in Iowa to use wind power for its data center. In addition to the above companies, there are dozens of other giants who practice RES, among them: Microsoft, Duke Energy, Intel, Ikea, FedEx ...
But let's not beat around the bush. Today we will talk about the largest solar power station, the legendary project "Ivanpa". The station is located near the famous Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert, a place where the sun can provide a huge energy output. In theory, the "solar farm", the full name of which is "Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System", is capable of providing electricity to a large city.
The object has an area of ​​14 square kilometers and includes 173 thousand heliostats and three power units in the form of towers 137 meters high. The station is capable of producing a whopping 392 MW of solar energy. In comparison, the station in Abu Dhabi with a capacity of 100 MW was in the second place before. According to many experts, “Aivanpa” is a real breakthrough in the world of solar energy. The construction of the station spent $ 2 billion. The construction lasted more than three years with the efforts of 2,700 specialists. The project officially went into operation in February 2014.
The history of the project "Ivanpa" originates in the distant 2004. Initially, the idea positioned itself as a startup known company BrightSource Energy. To implement the project, the company began to look for investors and they were soon found. Among them were DBL, Morgan Stanley, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, BP and others. In total, investors allocated $ 100 million. Later, Google joined the number of investors, he allocated $ 168 million to the project. But for the implementation of such a large-scale project, these funds turned out to be not enough and BrightSource Energy decides to ask for help from the US state. As a result, the US federal government, under the pretext of helping to develop innovative projects, invested $ 1.6 billion in credit funds.
There were a lot of obstacles on the way to the realization of “Ayvanpy”, such as the economic crisis and the decline in demand for eco-energy, but all this did not prevent BrightSource from moving towards its goal. Thus, in 2010, the construction of the “solar station” began. And here, when the project is completely finished, we can observe the real work of art.
Despite the apparent complexity, the principle of operation of the solar farm is quite simple. As already stated above, the station consists of 173 thousand heliostats. Heliostat is a device that, regardless of the daily movement of the sun, is capable of turning a mirror that directs the sun's rays in one direction. Each heliostat consists of a pair of mirrors and a control mechanism.
In the center of each of the three heliostat fields is a tower-power station. Mirrors focus sunlight on boilers located on the tops of the towers. From heating the boilers to 538 ° C, steam is generated, which enters the turbine with an electric generator.
When the boiler overheats, its surface becomes white, reflecting excess energy. At the bottom of the tower is the cooling system. Each tower also has a control room with a graphic control system for all elements of the station.
If we take into account that the majority, calling the benefits of solar energy, first of all refer to its environmental friendliness, they most likely do not know the whole truth. First, most environmentalists are concerned about the damage done to nature in the area of ​​construction. Secondly, due to concentrated sunlight, thousands of birds die, among which there are rare species.
In spite of everything, the project “Ivanpa” cannot be called ideal, and there are enough reasons for this. The project implementation took a long time and was very financially costly. But the most ironic is that the technology of the solar station, according to many experts, has become obsolete. This is due primarily to the presence of wired control lines of the station. For example, at many European solar stations for several years already GSM signals have been used for communication. Plus, the station does not use accumulated energy storage, which is now a more efficient method. But, nevertheless, "Ivanpa" at the moment is the largest and most powerful solar station in the world.
According to forecasts, by 2020 the share of solar energy in the world market will be more than 10%, which, of course, proves the potential of renewable energy sources.
Undoubtedly, the biggest advantage of this energy is its inexhaustible, hence the concept of "renewable". This allows large companies to save millions of dollars. Also, many experts refer to the environmental friendliness of such projects, but it is still not completely clear.
')
So, for example, Apple has a station for the production of solar energy of 400 thousand square meters. And Google has placed thousands of wind turbines in Iowa to use wind power for its data center. In addition to the above companies, there are dozens of other giants who practice RES, among them: Microsoft, Duke Energy, Intel, Ikea, FedEx ...
But let's not beat around the bush. Today we will talk about the largest solar power station, the legendary project "Ivanpa". The station is located near the famous Las Vegas in the Mojave Desert, a place where the sun can provide a huge energy output. In theory, the "solar farm", the full name of which is "Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System", is capable of providing electricity to a large city.
The object has an area of ​​14 square kilometers and includes 173 thousand heliostats and three power units in the form of towers 137 meters high. The station is capable of producing a whopping 392 MW of solar energy. In comparison, the station in Abu Dhabi with a capacity of 100 MW was in the second place before. According to many experts, “Aivanpa” is a real breakthrough in the world of solar energy. The construction of the station spent $ 2 billion. The construction lasted more than three years with the efforts of 2,700 specialists. The project officially went into operation in February 2014.
How it all began
The history of the project "Ivanpa" originates in the distant 2004. Initially, the idea positioned itself as a startup known company BrightSource Energy. To implement the project, the company began to look for investors and they were soon found. Among them were DBL, Morgan Stanley, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, BP and others. In total, investors allocated $ 100 million. Later, Google joined the number of investors, he allocated $ 168 million to the project. But for the implementation of such a large-scale project, these funds turned out to be not enough and BrightSource Energy decides to ask for help from the US state. As a result, the US federal government, under the pretext of helping to develop innovative projects, invested $ 1.6 billion in credit funds.
There were a lot of obstacles on the way to the realization of “Ayvanpy”, such as the economic crisis and the decline in demand for eco-energy, but all this did not prevent BrightSource from moving towards its goal. Thus, in 2010, the construction of the “solar station” began. And here, when the project is completely finished, we can observe the real work of art.
How does it work
Despite the apparent complexity, the principle of operation of the solar farm is quite simple. As already stated above, the station consists of 173 thousand heliostats. Heliostat is a device that, regardless of the daily movement of the sun, is capable of turning a mirror that directs the sun's rays in one direction. Each heliostat consists of a pair of mirrors and a control mechanism.
In the center of each of the three heliostat fields is a tower-power station. Mirrors focus sunlight on boilers located on the tops of the towers. From heating the boilers to 538 ° C, steam is generated, which enters the turbine with an electric generator.
When the boiler overheats, its surface becomes white, reflecting excess energy. At the bottom of the tower is the cooling system. Each tower also has a control room with a graphic control system for all elements of the station.
Ecological station was not entirely ecological
If we take into account that the majority, calling the benefits of solar energy, first of all refer to its environmental friendliness, they most likely do not know the whole truth. First, most environmentalists are concerned about the damage done to nature in the area of ​​construction. Secondly, due to concentrated sunlight, thousands of birds die, among which there are rare species.
The future of the station and solar energy in general
In spite of everything, the project “Ivanpa” cannot be called ideal, and there are enough reasons for this. The project implementation took a long time and was very financially costly. But the most ironic is that the technology of the solar station, according to many experts, has become obsolete. This is due primarily to the presence of wired control lines of the station. For example, at many European solar stations for several years already GSM signals have been used for communication. Plus, the station does not use accumulated energy storage, which is now a more efficient method. But, nevertheless, "Ivanpa" at the moment is the largest and most powerful solar station in the world.
According to forecasts, by 2020 the share of solar energy in the world market will be more than 10%, which, of course, proves the potential of renewable energy sources.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/375177/
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