Tomorrow, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz will travel to Ivanpah Dry Lake, California, to dedicate the world’s largest concentrating solar power plant. Secretary Moniz will deliver the keynote address at the dedication event.
Below are excerpts of the Secretary’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Three weeks ago, President Obama delivered the State of the Union address and energy and climate were an important theme of the remarks. The President made clear that his all-of-the-above approach to energy is working -- both creating jobs and helping to drive carbon pollution to the lowest levels in 20 years. We’re producing more natural gas than ever before. For the first time in twenty years, we are producing more oil at home than we buy from the rest of the world. And in recent years, we have more than doubled the amount of electricity we generate from wind and solar.”
“President Obama and the Department of Energy are committed to ensuring that all sources of energy are competitive in a carbon constrained economy. This is why we have already invested more than $6 billion in carbon capture and sequestration technologies and recently announced up to $8 billion in available loan guarantees for advanced fossil energy projects that lower emissions. This is why we provided more than $8.4 billion in loans to the auto industry to allow our domestic auto producers to retool their American factories to produce cleaner and more efficient vehicles. And this is why we have committed more than $24 billion in loan guarantees for clean energy projects across the country -- including right here at Ivanpah.”
“In many ways, this project is a symbol of the exciting progress we are seeing across the industry. Last year, utility-scale solar set a record with 2.3 gigawatts installed in 2013.”
“This project speaks for its self. Just look at the 170,000 shining heliostat mirrors and the three towers that would dwarf the Statue of Liberty. Ivanpah is the largest solar thermal energy facility in the world with 392 MW of capacity -- meaning it can produce enough renewable electricity to power nearly 100,000 homes.”
“While the visuals are pretty stunning, you can’t see one of the most remarkable features of this project. Ivanpah is utilizing dry-cooling technology that dramatically reduces water usage. In fact, this entire facility will use roughly the same amount of water as two holes at the nearby golf course.”
“Investing in clean energy isn’t a decision that limits our economic potential -- it’s an opportunity to lead the global clean technology markets that are forming right now. We simply can’t afford to be at the back of the train -- we have to be at the front, leading the world in these industries.”
