Solar Power

Plans for the world’s largest solar power plant, the Blythe Solar Power Project, have been given the go-ahead by the California Energy Commission. Once in operation, the project, situated in the Mojave desert, will have a 1,000 megawatt capacity, which is equal to the turbine output of a nuclear power plant or a big modern coal-fired plant. Final approvals came in December, and initial work on the project has begun. The site is being developed by Solar Millennium LLC, and the first two plants are slated to be connected to the grid in 2013 and 2014.

A major breakthrough for solar power in the California desert.

Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded the commission’s decision to approve the construction of the Blythe project, saying, “Projects like this are the future of the California economy.”

Originally published in Metalworking World 2.2011, a business magazine published by Sandvik Coromant.