Mirrors blamed for fire at world's largest solar plant

File photo. Courtesy: Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System/Flickr

Tuesday, May 24, 2016, 5:58 PM - Misaligned mirrors are being blamed on a fire at the world's largest solar plant along the California-Nevada border last week. The flames shut down a generator and left the plant working at a third of its capacity.

Firefighters had to climb 90 metres to reach a boiler tower at California's Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Thursday morning, the Associated Press reports. The fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes, and no injuries were reported.

The plant uses mirrors to steer sunlight towards three massive towers, generating steam that fuels turbines to produce energy -- but a series of misaligned mirrors instead focused the sunbeams on a different portion of one of the towers, causing electrical cables to burst into flames.

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David Knox, spokesman for plant operator NRG Energy, said the fire is under investigation.

When all three towers are running the plant can produce enough power for 140,000 homes, but the fire involved in the blaze has been shut down and another closed for maintenance, leaving only one operational.

The entire $2.2 billion (U.S.) complex houses 350,000 computer-controlled mirrors, spread out over 12 square kilometres.

Source: AP