The station will be built on a 2,250 acre area in the Negev desert. The preparation for the station is expected to take a year and the actual construction another two years, at which point it will become operational.
The power station will be constructed by Solel Solar System Ltd., an alternative energy firm that built and maintains the world’s largest solar power facility in California’s Mojave Desert.
The facility relies on hundreds of thousands of curved mirrors – each with a diameter of almost 20 feet and with a 4 inch diameter specially-insulated oil-filled tube. Each mirror heats the oil to nearly 750 degrees, which turns water into steam. The steam drives a turbine, which produces electricity. Since the last stages of the process are similar to those in conventional power plants, the facility can also be operated on gas when sunlight is unavailable, such as during the night or when the panels are undergoing maintenance.
"Israel is prominent on the world stage for developing solar technology, but until now, we haven't really harnessed that knowledge for our own needs," said Prof. David Faiman, director of the Solar Energy Center when the project was announced several years ago.
The Negev station will initially supply 100 megawatts of electricity – enough to supply power for 200,000 people - and will eventually have an annual output of 500 megawatts – enough to meet the needs of 1,000,000 Israelis.