Clark Energy, Acciona chosen by U.S. Army to develop huge mixed PV, CST solar plant at Fort Irwin

Clark Energy Group has been chosen to develop a major solar power project at Fort Irwin, CA–the largest of its kind in U.S. Department of Defense history. Acciona Solar Power will join Clark Energy to help construct and manage the Fort Irwin Solar Energy EUL (enhanced use leasing) project.

The selection of Clark-Acciona was made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, EUL program working in partnership with Fort Irwin and the Department of the Army.

The Fort Irwin Solar Energy EUL will involve a flexible, phased, multitechnology approach to delivering up to 1000MW of power generation, while advancing the transformation of Fort Irwin’s overall energy security, the companies said. The Clark-Acciona proposal features the industrial-scale development of both solar photovoltaic and concentrated solar thermal technologies.

The proposed development will ultimately include more than 500MW of solar power that will generate 1250GWhr of renewable energy annually at the site. The Clark-Acciona plan calls for a phased implementation that considers site characteristics, constraints, available resources, current and future technologies, cost, access to transmission lines, and length of approval and connection processes at each construction stage.

The Fort Irwin Solar Energy EUL pilot project is an initiative of the Secretary of the Army’s Senior Energy Council. The council coordinates and promotes energy security and policy for the Army by using measures to conserve and use energy wisely, while also encouraging the production of alternative energy sources from the Army’s substantial land holdings across the country.

The EUL program, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, leverages private capital and expertise to fund installation maintenance and operation costs in exchange for long-term leases of Army land through its statutory authority.

Fort Irwin is in the High Mojave Desert, midway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The installation hosts the National Training Center, which is the Army’s premier heavy maneuver Combat Training Center and NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, whose main purpose is to track and communicate with space missions.