Ivanpah Solar Power Complex – Ivanpah, California

BrightSource is currently developing its first solar power complex in California’s Mojave Desert. The Ivanpah Solar Power Complex will be located in Ivanpah, approximately 50 miles northwest of Needles, California, and about five miles from the California-Nevada border. The complex will generate enough electricity to power more than 140,000 homes and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 400,000 tons per year.

Project Details

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The approximately 400 megawatt Ivanpah Solar Power Complex will consist of three separate plants and provide electricity to PG&E and Southern California Edison. Commencement of construction on the first plant is scheduled for the second half of 2010, following permitting review by the California Energy Commission and the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management. The first plant is scheduled to come online in mid-2012.

Project Overview

• An approximately 400 megawatt solar complex using mirrors to focus the power of the sun on solar receivers atop power towers.
• The complex is comprised of three separate plants to be built in phases between 2010 and 2013, and will use BrightSource Energy’s Luz Power Tower (LPT) technology.
• The electricity generated by all three plants is enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.
• Located approximately 4.5 miles southwest of Primm, Nevada, in the desert on federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
• When constructed, Ivanpah will be the first large-scale solar thermal project built in California in nearly two decades and the largest in the world.
• The Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System will nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.

Economic Benefits

Construction Jobs:	1,000 at peak of construction
Permanent Jobs:	86
State and Local Tax Benefits:	$400 million*
Total Construction Wages:	$250 million
Total Employee Earnings:	$650 million*
	*Based on 30 year plant life cycle

Environmental Benefits

• Avoids 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year; the equivalent of removing 70,000 cars off the road annually.
• Employs a closed-loop dry-cooling technology, which reduces water use by 90 percent. Will use 100 acre feet per year, the equivalent of 300 homes’ annual water usage; and nearly 25 times less water than competing technologies.
• Cuts major air pollutants by 85% compared to new natural gas-fired power plants.
• Technology places individual mirrors onto metal poles that are driven into the ground, reducing the need for extensive land grading and using far fewer concrete pads than other technologies.

Labor-friendly Project

In December 2009, BrightSource Energy’s engineering partner, Bechtel, signed a project labor agreement with the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California (SBCTC), and the Building & Construction Trades Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to provide qualified, skilled craft workers for the Ivanpah project.

World Class Partners

	The Ivanpah project will provide power under a 1,300 megawatt contract for Southern California Edison and a 1,310 megawatt contract with Pacific Gas and Electric company. When completed, the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System will nearly double the amount of commercial solar thermal electricity produced in the US today.
	BrightSource has partnered with Bechtel, the world’s premier engineering, construction and project management firm, as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System. In addition, Bechtel Enterprises, the project development and financing arm of the Bechtel organization, will become an equity investor in all of the Ivanpah solar power plants.
	The Ivanpah project has received a conditional commitment for a more than $1.3 billion loan guarantee by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund this project. The loan is part of the DOE’s Title XVII loan guarantee program, which was started in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act, to support commercially viable technology in addition to innovative renewable energy technology.
	In December 2008, BrightSource signed an agreement with Siemens for the largest ever solar-powered steam turbine generator for the Ivanpah project.