Construction Slated to Starton Major Solar Power Plant

An energy company is scheduled to break ground today on the first big U.S. solar thermal power plant in 15 years, and analysts expect that similar plants soon will be built around the Southwest and Mediterranean.

Solargenix Energy, a company controlled by Spanish-company Accion, is starting construction on Nevada Solar One, a 64- megawatt, solar thermal plant in the Eldorado Valley of Boulder City.

The $106 million solar project is scheduled for completion by March 2007. It will cover about 320 acres of desert land in the Eldorado Valley and will be visible to motorists on nearby U.S. Highway 95.

The plant will use troughs of mirrors to concentrate heat from the sun and raise the temperature of a special fluid to 750 degrees. The fluid then will transfer the heat to a steam generator that will produce electricity.

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