Nevada Solar One Goes Online

Could this landmark plant herald a U.S. boom for utility-scale solar power?

By Gilbert E. Cohen

The 64-megawatt Nevada Solar One concentrating solar power plant, among the largest of its kind to date, is slated for completion in April. Photo courtesy of Solargenix Energy.

Boulder City, just outside of Las Vegas, has been known as a city of promise since the Depression Era, when workers flocked there to build the legendary Hoover Dam. Today this oasis in the desert is the site of the nation’s newest large-scale renewable energy project, Nevada Solar One.

The 64-megawatt (MW) solar thermal power plant, among the largest of its kind to date, broke ground just one year ago, in March 2006. Nevada Solar One’s groundbreaking came three years after the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada approved a power purchase agreement among utilities Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co. and project leader Solargenix Energy, now a subsidiary of Spain’s Acciona Group. The utilities will use credits from the solar power plant to meet their obligations under Nevada’s renewable portfolio standard.

The 300-acre facility is slated for completion in April. A workforce averaging 400 and peaking at 850 people put in 1.5 million work-hours to accomplish this task in such short period. The greatest claim of this landmark installation, however, may be its implications for utility-scale solar energy.

About the Author: Gilbert E. Cohen is senior vice president at Acciona Solar Power Inc.,
formerly known as Solargenix Energy Inc. He is a former member of the
ASES board. Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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