Brightsource, Abengoa scrap plans for controversial solar CSP project

Share

Last Friday, Palen Solar Holdings LLC quietly filed to cancel its application at the California Energy Commission. This is the end for the solar tower project CSP project, which was previously scaled down from two towers comprising 500 MW to one, 250 MW solar power tower.

Palen has been a flashpoint for the fight between solar developers and conservationists in the California desert. Following the discovery of birds burned by the solar flux at BrightSource's Ivanpah plant, conservation groups and sympathetic journalists had raised concerns about the potential for higher numbers of bird deaths at Palen.

As Ivanpah brought a new level of scrutiny to the issue, there was no long-term reliable data to draw from. The number of actual deaths is a matter of heated debate, between a relatively low number of dead birds reported at Ivanpah and sensationalistic estimates widely propagated without context in the media.

Conservationists were also motivated to stop the project for aesthetic reasons, as it would be visible from the nearby Joshua Tree National Monument.

BrightSource Senior VP of Marketing and Government Affairs Joe Desmond has re-affirmed the developer's plans to build more solar power tower CSP projects in the future.

Popular content

“After carefully reviewing the proposed decision recommending approval of one tower, we determined it would be in the best interest of all parties to bring forward a project that would better meet the needs of the market and energy consumers. ”

“We believe concentrating solar power, and specifically tower technology with thermal energy storage, can play a key role in helping California achieve its clean energy goals by providing the necessary flexibility needed to help maintain grid reliability.”

“In addition, we are committed to bringing projects to the market that follow sound and responsible environmental measures to ensure all impacts are avoided, minimized or compensated for properly.”

Correction: The quote in this article was originally attributed to Palen Solar Holdings LLC. Instead, Joe Desmond of BrightSource has been identified as the source.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.

Share

Related content

Elsewhere on pv magazine...

Leave a Reply

Please be mindful of our community standards.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.

Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.

You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.

Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.