Gizmodo... Misaligned mirrors are being blamed for a fire that broke out yesterday at the worlds largest solar power plant, leaving the high-tech facility crippled for the time being. It sounds like the plants workers suffered through a real hellscape, too. Damaged steam ducts and water pipes. (Image: San Bernardino County Fire Department via AP) A small fire was reported yesterday morning at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) in California, forcing a temporary shutdown of the facility. Its now running at a third of its capacity (a second tower is down due to scheduled maintenance), and its not immediately clear when the damaged tower will restart. Its also unclear how the incident will impact Californias electricity supply.
Putting out the blaze was not easy task, either. Firefighters were forced to climb 300 feet up a boiler tower to get to the scene. Officials said the fire was located about two-thirds up the tower. Workers at the plant actually managed to subdue the flames by the time firefighters reached the spot, and it was officially extinguished about 20 minutes after it started.
Located on 4,000 acres of public land in the Mojave Desert, the sprawling concentrated solar thermal plant is equipped with 173,500 heliostatseach with two mirrorsthat focus sunlight on boilers located on top of three 459-foot towers. The tremendous heat created by the concentrated solar power produces steam that drives turbines to produce electricity. The plant, the largest of its kind in the world, features a gross capacity of 392 megawatts, enough to power 140,000 homes. Each of the computer-controlled solar-reflecting mirrors is about the size of a garage door. This image shows one of the plants three towers when its functioning properly and online. (Image: Aioannides)
A spokesperson for the plant said its too early to comment on the cause, but it appears that misaligned mirrors are to blame. The Associated Press quoted Mike McClintock, the San Bernardino County fire captain, who said that some mirrors delivered sunlight to a different level on the third unit, causing electrical cables to catch fire.
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Inevitably, the incident reveals the inherent dangers of concentrated solar power as well as the need to ensure that the mirrors are always on target. Concentrated solar power plants, in addition to being a menace to themselves, can also pose a hazard to local wildlife. Last year, a plant in Nevada torched over a hundred birds when they flew through the plants flux field.
Its yet another setback for the Ivanpah facility. For the past few months, the plant has been unable to meet the output levels stipulated in its power purchase agreement, and it was given an extension until July 31, 2016 to improve performance. This fire obviously isnt going to help.
[AP] George Dvorsky@dvorsky
George is a contributing editor at Gizmodo and io9.