Friday, May 20, 2016

Mirrors Briefly Set Solar Power Plant On Fire In Mojave

Mis-aligned mirrors at a solar power plant in the Mojave desert caused a brief fire, resulting in lost output from the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. The solar power plant--run by NRG Energy and Brightsource Energy--apparently reported a fire around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. The plant is near Primm, Nevada. San Bernardino County Fire said misaligned mirrors apparently caused electrical cables to catch fire at the plant, although the fire was out in less than 20 minutes, before firefighters arrived at the scene. The power plant at Ivanpah uses solar thermal technology to generate electricity, with mirrors generating heat to create steam, which are in turn used to produce electricity using steam turbines.