see below for up-to-date press releases
The scale of the first 200MW power station will capture worldwide attention and attract significant added value through tourism and agribusiness.
At 2,600 feet tall, the chimney of the La Paz Solar Tower would become the world’s second-tallest building. The base of the structure is two miles wide and acts like a giant greenhouse baking in the sun.
Clean energy technology
The solar updraft tower is a renewable-energy power plant. It combines the chimney effect, the greenhouse effect and the wind turbine. Air is heated by sunshine and contained in a very large greenhouse-like structure around the base of a tall chimney, and the resulting convection causes air to rise up the updraft tower. This airflow drives turbines, which produce electricity.
The southwest region of the US, specifically Arizona, has been identified as an ideal Solar Tower development destination based on meteorological data and regional market conditions that include strong mandates and incentives for renewable energy generation.
The construction time to build a 200MW Solar Tower is approximately 2 years. Although a construction start date has not yet been disclosed, a construction/project management team was selected and announced August 4, 2011.
YouTube Video / Solar Tower in Spain
Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA):
Seven SCPPA members are working with EnviroMission USA to install this solar energy project in the Arizona desert.
Solar Tower technology uses solar energy to heat air beneath a large translucent collector (greenhouse) that in turn creates a constant flow of air to drive turbines. One of the many strengths of the Solar Tower technology is its ability to generate utility scale power reliably day and night without the use of water.
EnviroMission, La Paz Solar Tower, Press Releases:
EnviroMission Limited has received a formal commitment to provide the entire development and construction capital for EnviroMission’s first Solar Tower power station being developed in La Paz County Arizona to deliver the terms of a power purchase agreement with the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA).
2011 has concluded a decade of development since listing on the ASX, in the first instance to exclusively develop the Solar Tower concept in Australia that resulted in the achievement of commercially driven engineering solutions and enhancements to form new intellectual property, know how and market credibility
EnviroMission Chief Executive, Roger Davey, has returned from Arizona where he attended key strategic development meetings with local personnel, contractors, businesses, government agencies and regulators in Arizona.
12.13.11: LA PAZ SOLAR TOWER UPDATE
EnviroMission Limited presented a La Paz Solar Tower development briefing to a public meeting of the La Paz County Board of Supervisors in La Paz, Arizona on December 5, 2011.
"La Paz County also acknowledges the support of the County is vital to developers and is now planning to install a rail spur out to the area of the proposed Solar Tower site by the end of 2012 that will assist with transport logistics for EnviroMission, County land fill and a current gold mine development in the area.
Ritoch-Powell will provide aerial mapping and land surveying services to support EnviroMission’s 200MW Solar Tower development planned for La Paz.
11.23.11: Terracon Engaged by EnviroMission
Terracon’s media release discloses the significant geotechnical engineering role Terracon will have in providing initial geotechnical engineering analysis, geo-seismic analysis and geotechnical consulting services to the first Solar Tower power station development in the United States.
EnviroMission Solar Tower development has been listed as a ‘featured project’ of Faithful+Gould’s North America operations on the Faithful+Gould website at www.fgould.com
News Briefs:
3.26.12 - Faithful+Gould selected to join EnviroMission solar tower project
On March 26th, 2012, Faithful+Gould, an international project management consultancy, announced that it has been selected by EnviroMission Ltd. to join the international project and cost management services team to deliver solar tower power station operation in La Paz County, Arizona.
12.12.11 Parker Pioneer: Work on solar tower progressing
10.02.11 CNN EnviroMission, an Australian company, wants to build it in the Arizona desert -
8.15.11 Huffington Post Video Giant Solar Energy Tower Headed to Arizona
8.12.11 NewYorkPost - Arizona Solar Tower .... 7 wonders of the new world, The incredible construction projects that will reshape the next century
- Imagine the size of the Empire State Building. Now double it. That’s the height of a proposed solar tower in the middle of the Arizona desert by a company called EnviroMission. The plan is to generate enough power to run 150,000 homes in Arizona and California. The base of the structure, which will sit roughly 130 miles west of Phoenix near the California border, is two miles wide and acts like a giant greenhouse baking in the sun. Its job is to soak up all that Arizona sunshine (there are more than 300 sunny days a year in parts of the state) and let it heat the air inside naturally. The hot air rises and spins turbines on its way up the 300-foot-wide thermal chimney. And voilą, instant electricity to run air conditioners and plasma TVs. The system can continue working even after sunset by storing heat during the day. The $700 million project is expected to go online in 2015. At 2,600 feet tall, the chimney would become the world’s second-tallest building. If things go well, anywhere from two to six tower complexes could make the Arizona desert look a lot more interesting, all while providing very cheap, very clean electricity.
US Power Authority Takes Call Option on EnviroMission Solar Tower
- SCPPA (Southern California Public Power Authority) will have the right to purchase the first Solar Tower facility at La Paz at the ten or 30 year anniversary of operation at "Fair Market Value" or the "amount of outstanding debt" whichever is greater at the time of execution of the option.
EnviroMission (USA), Inc. will provide the day-to-day operations to support EnviroMission's overarching, executive developer interests, under the management of EnviroMission's Chief Executive, Mr. Roger Davey.
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