The 29 MW, 100-acre, solar plant will use BrightSource’s solar thermal power tower technology to produce steam, which will be used for enhanced oil recovery. Oil companies inject high-temperature and pressure steam into oil wells to access more oil. Not exactly clean, but a way to extend oil supplies.
The plant will use 3,822 heliostats (each have two 10 by 7 foot mirrors on 6-foot steel poles), and these heliostats focus the sun’s rays onto a central boiler that sits on top of a 327-foot tall tower. BrightSource is also in the process of building a much larger 392 MW, 3,600-acre, solar farm near Las Vegas, which will uses thousands of heliostats and three 450-foot towers.
The video:
The photos:
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1 / 4Aerial view of Chevron, BrightSource solar oil plantAerial view of Chevron, BrightSource solar oil plant -
2 / 4Chevron, BrightSource solar oil plantChevron, BrightSource solar oil plant, the tower and the mirrors -
3 / 4The tower at the Chevron, BrightSource solar oil plantThe tower at the Chevron, BrightSource solar oil plant -
4 / 4Coalinga Pumpjack and Lit Tower in the backgroundCoalinga Pumpjack and Lit Tower in the background


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