The Nevada Solar One parabolic trough power plant located in Boulder City, near Las Vegas, will begin supplying power to the grid. The 64 megawatt power plant is the first large solar thermal power plant to be built in 15 years and will generate approximately 129 million kilowatt hours of solar electricity annually, Glass on Web reported.

Nevada Solar One is expected to sufficiently cover the power requirements of 15,000 households. The plant takes up an area of 1.4 million square meters and is roughly the same size as 212 soccer fields.

Acciona Solar Power Inc., a subsidiary of the Spanish Acciona group, has been responsible for building the plant and will operate it with technology from Germany-based Schott AG.

"We are convinced that parabolic trough power plants are on their way to achieving a global breakthrough, thanks to Nevada Solar One," said Udo Ungeheuer, Schott's chairman. "The technology has already proven itself and the costs of generating electricity will soon be competitive."