Rome, March 20th, 2012 Enel Green Power, the Enel Groups renewables company, operating in North America through its subsidiary Enel Green Power North America, has expanded the capacity of the Stillwater solar power plant connected to the binary-cycle geothermal power plant.
This has increased the grid-connected photovoltaic power capacity of this innovative plant located in Churchill County, Nevada from 24 MW to 26 MW. The plant also has a geothermal capacity of 33 MW.
This is the first hybrid renewable energy project in the world that combines the continuous generation capacity of binary-cycle, medium-enthalpy geothermal power with the peak capacity of solar power, allowing NV Energy, which holds a contract to buy all of the energy generated by the plant, to better satisfy the energy needs of its customers.
The solar power plant will generate around 43 million kWh of clean energy per year, enough to meet the needs of over 16,000 American households as well as avoiding the emission of around 30,000 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.
Combining two technologies to produce electricity from renewable sources at the same location not only increases the generation of zero-emission energy (which, in this case, will exceed 200 million kWh/year, avoiding the emission of around 140,000 metric tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year), but also makes it possible to use the same infrastructure, such as, for instance, electrical interconnection lines, thereby further reducing environmental impact.
The entry into service of this new plant brings Enel Green Powers total installed capacity in North America to more than 1,000 MW.