POWER December 2012 - 36

top plants
Stillwater Solar-Geothermal
Hybrid Plant, Churchill County,
Nevada
Owner/operator: Enel Green Power North America
The Stillwater hybrid facility is the world's first renewable energy project that
pairs geothermal power's baseload generation capacity with solar power's peak
capacity. Inaugurated in May, the 26-MW solar plant is integrated with the adjacent
33-MW geothermal plant, which began operations in 2009, and provides
energy to run the geothermal plant's auxiliary loads.
By Angela Neville, JD
Courtesy: Enel Green Power North America
C
ombining the best of two renewable
energy technologies, the Stillwater hybrid
facility balances the continuous
generation capacity of geothermal energy
with the peak capacity of solar energy. The
new solar plant's photovoltaic (PV) panels
cover 240 acres next to a geothermal plant in
Churchill County, Nevada.
The Stillwater geothermal project, which
received $40 million in tax support under the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, harnessed innovative technologies to add
solar energy to the facility and now provides
59 MW of combined capacity to power about
45,000 local homes. NV Energy has a contract
to buy all the power generated by the plant.
" As the first of its kind in the world, this
project demonstrates how we can tap renewable
energy sources to provide clean power
for American families and businesses and
deploy every available source of American
energy, " Steven Chu, secretary of the U.S.
Department of Energy, said in May. " Supported
in part by the Recovery Act, the Fallon
facility is expanding domestic renewable energy
sources and helping to build the infra34
structure
we need to stay competitive in the
global race for clean energy technologies. "
How Geothermal Power Works
Geothermal energy is the only nonhydro renewable
energy source able to provide baseload
power because it relies on the continuous
flow of heat from underground water sources
rather than depending on the availability of
wind or sun. In many geothermal reservoirs,
however, the water temperatures are moderate
(below 400F) and not hot enough to produce
steam with the force needed to efficiently
turn a turbine. Nonetheless, such moderate
temperature reservoirs can generate electricity
using a binary system.
Francesco Venturini, Enel Green Power
North America's (EGP NA) president and
CEO, told POWER in October about the Stillwater
geothermal plant's medium enthalpy
binary system. He explained that the facility
uses the system because of the moderate temperature
of the nearby geothermal reservoir.
The plant's binary system uses two fluids: hot
water from underground wells heats isobutane
and causes it to flash into vapor, which then
www.powermag.com
turns the turbines to generate electricity.
In addition, the facility uses proprietary
technology that increases efficiency by minimizing
the parasitic load-energy losses that
occur from operating the various pumps and
fans required in the power generation cycle.
The plant has a closed-loop system that continually
replenishes the geothermal resource.
Once the geothermal fluid has passed through
the plant, it is pumped back into the ground.
Therefore, there are zero intentional emissions
from the process and virtually nothing
is emitted to the atmosphere.
Venturini added that his company has
strong expertise in the geothermal energy
sector. " EGP NA is the first company in the
world to produce electricity from geothermal
sources dating back to 1904 in Larderello,
Italy. The company has over 700 MW of geothermal
capacity in full operation and uses innovative
operational and drilling techniques
to optimize its projects' output, " he said.
An Electric Combination: Geothermal
and Solar Technologies
Adding the solar component to the StillwaPOWER
| December 2012
http://www.powermag.com

POWER December 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER December 2012

Contents
POWER December 2012 - Cover1
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POWER December 2012 - Contents
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