Building starts at world's largest solar plant

Jun 18, 2011, 1:09 GMT

Los Angeles - California is building the world's largest solar power plant. Government officials led by California Governor Jerry Brown broke ground Friday on the Blythe Solar Power Project in the sun-baked Mojave Desert in south-eastern California.

The project will use parabolic mirrors to concentrate the sun's energy, producing steam to drive turbines.

The completed solar power plant will be the world's largest, with a capacity of more than 1,000 megawatts on more than 2,800 hectares, according to the developer, Solar Trust of America. That's the equivalent of a nuclear power station, enough to power up to 750,000 homes.

The project will easily be the world's largest - the current record holder in Seville, Spain, only generates 150 megawatts of power.

'We're going to be the world leader in solar energy,' Brown said at the ceremony, in a desert that is fast becoming a solar electricity hub.

A grid of nine solar power plants nearby already produces 354 megawatts of power, while the Ivanpah Soler Power Facility, also in southern California, is being built with a 370-megawatt capacity.

The developer, Solar Trust of America, is a joint venture between the German firms Solar Millennium and Ferrostaal. It was able to finance the project thanks to a 2.1-billion-dollar loan guarantee by the US government. Completion is scheduled for 2013.