COD and Barstow Community College Teamed Up to Train Solar Workforce at Ivanpah

Aerial view of Ivanpah Unit 1, outside Nipton, California

Ivanpah training group

42 Trainees completed a two-day training course

PALM DESERT, CA—College of the Desert’s Advanced Transportation Technology & Energy Center (ATTE) and Barstow Community College have partnered on the training of workers for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System.

The project’s owners- NRG Energy, Google and Brightsource conducted a two-day workshop to introduce workers with backgrounds in general power plant operations to the specifics of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) thermal tower technology. The workshop covered solar thermal principles, CSP tower systems- and plant operation issues. The training was conducted at the plant site with 45 to 50 workers in attendance. James Pacheco of Sandia National Laboratories, one of Department of Energy’s experts in central tower technology, served as trainer. The workshop was held at the Ivanpah project site which is 10 miles northwest of Nipton, CA.

Ivanpah towers looking north

The CSP tower training included a plant overview of several areas including: the basic theory of operation, basic construction and design, major system operations, interconnected systems, startup and shutdown, response to weather changes, water chemistry and plant performance measurements.

College of the Desert’s ATTE has continued to develop and refine its utility-scale solar energy program and provide assistance to other colleges in the region as a result of the capacity established with funding from California Energy Commission, Chancellor’s Office Advanced Transportation Technology & Energy Initiative, and Employment Development Department.

Ivanpah tower

For information contact, Larry McLaughlin, COD’s Director Advanced Transportation Technology and Energy Center, at (760) 773-2595.

Information and press photos on the Ivanpah project can be obtained at http://ivanpahsolar.com.

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