wow. Just now reading about this.a 4 square mile area north of Quartzsite about 10 miles. Sounds pretty close to Plomosa road. I can't find much about the impacts to camping, but construction starts in 2013.QUARTZSITE - The Quartzsite Solar Energy project that has been in the works for this area has been moving closer to a decision to break ground by December of 2012. The proposed 100 megawatt facility, which is planned for La Paz County, will be built about 10 miles north of Quartzsite near Hwy 95N. It will include a generation plant, power lines and ancillary facilities that will be on BLM land if the proposal is given the go ahead.

By NED POTTER (@NedPotterABC) July 27, 2011 In the desert of western Arizona, a power company proposes to build the world's tallest chimney -- a tower, 2,600 feet tall, that would be the centerpiece of a giant non-polluting power plant, making electricity from the heat of the sun. The project has been started by an Australian company called EnviroMission, which says it hopes, by the time it is finished construction in early 2015, to provide enough electricity to power the equivalent of 200,000 homes. It would burn no fuel. Nothing quite like it has ever been tried in America before.It would also draw attention to this isolated place, off state route 95 north of Quartzsite, Ariz. Supporters say the view from the top on a clear day would be stupendousThe project will be massive. Once completed, the greenhouse base will be more than 2 miles in diameter, the diameter of the tower will be the size of a football field. It will be twice as high as the Empire State Building, and almost as big as the world's tallest building in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa.EnviroMission is currently working on a land deal with the state, but says the Southern California Public Power Authority has already agreed on a 30-year power purchase agreement. Company officials are from Australia but chose to build in the Valley because the environment back home wasn't as friendly. The country still relies heavily on coal and the Australian government didn't offer the same kind of incentives. Conversely, Davey says the U.S. has been accommodating. The area between Quartzsite and Parker near the California border was chosen for three reasons: it's hot; it's flat; and it's close to transmission lines in both states. More solar towers are planned for other states in the desert Southwest as well as Mexico, India and perhaps even Australia. Arizona will likely get more, too.Arizona is large enough for us to build multiple facilities, where the first project is located, there's enough land for half a dozen facilities out there."

have been googling to find out the impacts to camping. this says it all. PUBLIC lands are being taken away. evidently, they can do anything they want with them.where will I camp next year? Probably not Quartzsite. “As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above strategy to expand domestic energy production and strengthen the economy, we are working to advance smart development of renewable energy on our public lands,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “These seven proposed solar and wind projects have great potential to grow our nation’s energy independence, drive job creation, and power economies across the west.”

Each tower will be surrounded by a mile-wide greenhouse designed to heat air, which will then rise through the tower after passing through turbines. The rated peak capacity will be 200 megawatts for each tower. According to SCPPA, “The Solar Tower facility is anticipated to generate more than 1,000,000 MWhs of renewable energy per year.” The towers were developed and will be built by an Australian company, EnviroMission. I could not find figures on the exact cost, but an October, 2010, estimate by Phoenix Business Journal puts the figure at somewhere between $700 million and $1 Billion. In December, 2010, the Arizona Republic put the cost at $750 million for one tower. That capital cost works out to about $3,750 per Kwh capacity. To put that in perspective, coal plants cost abut $3,167 per Kwh, natural gas plants cost about $1,003 per Kwh, and solar voltaic plants cost about $4,755 per Kwh according to the Energy Information Administration. So far there are no data on how much of the peak capacity will actually be available. Availability is generally near 90% for fossil fuel plants and less than 25% for solar voltaic plants. If built, the towers will be the tallest structures in the U.S. and second only to the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai.

just give that money to people to put the solar panels right on their roofs :)a little bit better use of the money, I would say.

There is a very large solar panel field south of Vegas on 95 plus a extra large solar panel field at Gila Bend az.No idea where that money is coming from but I could guess.chevman

Quartzsite solar tower | Good Sam Community

John___Angela
Explorer
Dec 26, 2012
2oldman wrote:
SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
just give that money to people to put the solar panels right on their roofs :)a little bit better use of the money, I would say.
Sounds like nimby.

What does a chimney have to do with solar power??

This is not a photo voltaic operation but rather a solar turbine operation. Air heated by concentrated "greenhouse" solar operation (mirrors etc) is routed through turbines in the bottom of the tower. Proven technology in other parts of the world but still in its infancy. No real downside but expensive up front. Considerably more environmentally sound than oil coal etc. less impact than Dams.
SuzzeeeQ2012
Explorer
Dec 26, 2012
BLM page on my Facebook...just posted. have no clue if it's smaller than originally planned. All the information I've read so far says it's the largest tower in the United States, but will read the link that was posted.

Bureau of Land Management - Arizona

BLM COMPLETES STUDY ON SOLAR TOWER IN LA PAZ COUNTY

The BLM and the Western Area Power Administration released the final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Quartzsite Solar Energy Project. Quartzsite Solar Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of SolarReserve, LLC, is the proponent for the project. It plans to use solar tower technology to produce up to 100 megawatts of solar-powered electricity in La Paz County. The project is proposed on 1,675 acres of BLM-administered land 10 miles north of Quartzsite and adjacent to Arizona State Route 95.

See the link got more information:

http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/info/newsroom/2012/december/qsep-feis.html

The company plans to construct a 653-foot tower surrounded by an array of mirrors. The mirrors would focus the sun’s rays on a point at the top of the tower. The concentrated heat would be used to create steam, which would be used to power traditional steam turbine generators.

(the final EIS states that there would be some 17,000 some odd mirrors reflecting up toward the tower. Sounds rather huge to me, but wwho knows. Maybe it will be in all that "Day Use Only" area that there is never anyone in lol
SuzzeeeQ2012
Explorer
Dec 26, 2012
John & Angela wrote:
Some additional more factual info.

http://quartzsite-solar.com/faqs.html

The height is considerably smaller than previously mentioned.

Am I to understand, then the EnviroMission Company from Australia won't be constructing this? They aren't mentioned in your link....
time2roll
Nomad
Dec 26, 2012
SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
just give that money to people to put the solar panels right on their roofs :)

a little bit better use of the money, I would say.

There are tax credits for installed systems. 30% I believe.
John___Angela
Explorer
Dec 26, 2012
SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
John & Angela wrote:
Some additional more factual info.

http://quartzsite-solar.com/faqs.html

The height is considerably smaller than previously mentioned.

Am I to understand, then the EnviroMission Company from Australia won't be constructing this? They aren't mentioned in your link....

Could be a different project. I have been interested in this kind of thing for a bit. There variation on the technology. Some using air turbine others steam. Should be interesting to watch. If we don't move forward we get left behind.

Here is another link but it is not associated with this project. Variation on the technology. Click on the link for the animation.

http://qtown.us/blog/2010/10/29/quartzsite-solar-power-sold-to-so-calif/
dascom2000
Explorer
Dec 27, 2012
A earlier post states this generator will offload the grid by a terawatt / year, I am trying to do the math and have become confused. There are 8,760 hours in a year times 100 MW is 876,000 MWH. The other thing that might come into play is that if the sun does not shine 24 / 7, but instead produces useable heat more like 8 to 10 hours each day, we will give it 10 to make it easy, we get 3,650 hours times 100 MW becomes 365,000 MWH which is a third of a Tera-Watt-Hour if conditions are perfect. I might have missed that fuzzy math class the only day I skipped school. 8-) BTW Electricity Consumption Totaled Nearly 3,856 Billion Kilowatthours (kWh) in 2011, which is 3,856 Tera-Watt-Hours and this unit will contribute 0.000095% to the grid. If we build 1,000 of these we will have 1% of our needs at the fire sale price of only $1 trillion. I pray I am not picking at nits or have misplaced a decimal.
RVUSA
Explorer
Dec 27, 2012
So what happens to all the birds that fly next to the mirrors?
Community Alumni
Dec 27, 2012
RVUSA wrote:
So what happens to all the birds that fly next to the mirrors?

Colonel Sanders representatives will be there scooping them as they fry in the air and fall to the ground. :B
Gadget_Guy1
Explorer
Dec 27, 2012
Why Do these things always need tax dollars to make them viable. No wonder the country is going to hell in a hand basket.
time2roll
Nomad
Dec 27, 2012
The solar stuff is just to handle some of the peak load not the base load.

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