City of Palmdale Hybrid Power Plant

Aspen assisted the California Energy Commission (CEC) with the Staff Assessment for the Palmdale Hybrid Power Project (PHPP). Aspen prepared the analyses for the following issue areas: Air Quality, Cultural Resources, Land Use, Geology and Paleontology, Waste Management, Hazardous Materials, Worker Safety, Public Health, and Alternatives. The project was approved by the CEC in 2011.

The City of Palmdale proposed to construct, own, and operate the PHPP, which consists of a hybrid of natural gas-fired combined-cycle generating equipment integrated with solar thermal generating equipment on an approximately 377-acre site in the northern portions of the City of Palmdale. The solar thermal equipment utilizes arrays of parabolic collectors to heat a high-temperature working fluid. The hot working fluid is used to boil water to generate steam. The combined-cycle equipment is integrated thermally with the solar equipment. The PHPP has a nominal electrical output of 570 megawatts. The solar thermal input provides approximately 10 percent of the peak power generated by the PHPP during the daily periods of highest energy demand.