HYBRID POWER
PALMDALE HYBRID POWER PROJECT
Regional Map
Artist Rendering of Hybrid Power Plant
Palmdale representatives (Hofbauer, Williams and Ledford)
tour the 830 MW gas combined cycle facility in Victorville.
From left, City Councilmember Steve Hofbauer, unidentified,
Mayor Jim Ledford, City Councilmember Tom Lackey, City
Manager Steve Williams and Inland Energy President Buck
Johns tour the 150 MW FPL, Solar Facility in Kramer Junction.
Project Description
T
he proposed Palmdale project will have a net
electrical output of 570 megawatts (MW), with
construction planned to begin in early 2010 and
commercial operation planned by the 2nd quarter of 2012.
Palmdale is designed to use solar technology to generate
a portion of the project’s output and thereby support the
State of California’s goals of increasing the percentage of
renewable energy supplies. Primary equipment for the
generating facility would include two natural gas-fired
combustion turbine-generation (CTGs) rates at 155 MW
each, two heat recovery steam generators (HRSFs), one
steam turbine-generator (STG) rated at 260 MW, and 250
acres of parabolic solar-thermal collectors with associated
heat transfer equipment. The solar-thermal collectors will
contribute up to 50 MW of the STG’s output.
As shown on the first two accompanying maps, Palmdale’s
power plant will be built on approximately 300 acres
located near the northern edge of the City of Palmdale
in Los Angeles County. The second map shows the site
layout, near the southeast corner of Sierra Highway and
Avenue M, on the northwest corner of Plant 42.
PALMDALE HYBRID POWER PROJECT
Site Map
HYBRID POWER
HYBRID POWER
PALMDALE HYBRID POWER PROJECT
Introduction
I
38300 Sierra Highway, Suite A
Palmdale, CA 93551
www.cityofpalmdale.org
n response to the looming
shortage of electric
generating capacity
facing Southern California
and to help generate local
economic growth, the City of
Palmdale unanimously voted
on September 13, 2005 to
develop a 570 megawatt (MW)
“hybrid” power plant near
Plant 42. The City has retained
Inland Energy, Inc. to manage
the development of the plant
which has been named the
“Palmdale Hybrid Power Plant”
(PHPP).
PHPP will be the nation’s
second “hybrid” plant,
combining the ultra high
efficiency of the modern natural
gas fired combined cycle
technology with the proven
renewable design of a solar
thermal system, using parabolic
trough mirrors to capture the
sun’s energy and turn it into
electricity. Much like a hybrid
car, this approach combines the
best features of two-state-of-theart technologies to produce a
design that is an improvement
over either one as stand-alone
technologies. The result will be
the cleanest and most efficient
fossil fuel fired plant in the
world.
The City decided to use
the solar thermal technology
for the Project’s renewable
component because the
sun’s recoverable energy
levels in the High Desert are
among the highest in the
world. This, coupled with
the fact that high population
concentrations (therefore
high demand for energy) are
found nearby, makes this
one of the most valuable and
unique renewable energy
resources in the world. PHPP
will produce up to 50 MW
of electricity from the solar
component alone, which will
require 250 acres of mirrors.