This means CEC has received enough information from the applicant to start the certification process.
CEC has named Energy Commission Vice Chairman James Boyd to lead the committee to review the project. Commissioner Jeffrey Byron is the associate member.
The committee makes sure the project meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEC is responsible for reviewing thermal electric power plants, 50 MW and greater in California.
As lead agency under CEQA, CEC through its facility certification process examines public health and safety, environmental impacts, and engineering aspects of proposed power plants and all related facilities, such as electric transmission lines and natural gas and water pipelines.
The proposed SES Solar One project owned by the Stirling Energy Systems will be constructed on around 8,230 acre site on federally-managed land located in San Bernardino county. The project site is about 37 miles east of Barstow, and115 miles east of Los Angeles. Most of the power from the project will be generated at peak times, when the demand for electricity is greatest.
The Energy Commission works closely with the Bureau of Land Management in reviewing applications for large solar thermal power proposed on federal lands. The Stirling Energy Systems Solar One project requires both federal and state approval.
The proposed Stirling Energy Systems’s Solar One project would include the around 30,000, 25 kilowatt solar dish Stirling systems (referred to as SunCatchers), their associated equipment and systems, and their support infrastructure. Each SunCatcher consists of a solar receiver heat exchanger and a closed-cycle, high-efficiency Solar Stirling Engine specifically designed to convert solar power to rotary power then driving an electrical generator to produce grid-quality electricity.
