1,000 MEGAWATTS OF SUN OK’D

Largest Solar Plant in the World Receives Final Regulatory Approval; Solar Millennium’s 1,000 MW Blythe plant checks the final box in its permitting checklist. Still waiting on the Federal Loan Guarantee, some hefty equity investors, and then its shovel-time.
Brett Prior, October 25, 2010 (Greentech Media)

"Solar Millennium LLC's Blythe concentrating solar project secured a Final "Record of Decision" from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approving the plant's Right of Way Grant...This is a big win for all players involved, including the following members of the CSP food chain:

"Receiver tube manufacturer: Schott or Solel (Siemens)...Reflector/mirror manufacturer: Flabeg (headquartered in Germany)...Engineering firm: Flagsol (JV between Solar Millennium AG & Ferrostaal AG)...EPC: Kiewit (headquartered in Nebraska)..."

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"The obvious bottleneck is the Loan Guarantee program, which is effectively holding up Blythe, as well as the Tessera/Stirling projects."

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"Can the folks at the DOE make commitments in time for these projects to break ground by 12/31/10 - so that they can qualify for the 30% Treasury Grant program?
We'll know soon enough.

"As dry-cooled plants cost more and delivery less electricity (lower capacity factor), the estimated LCOE of this project is around $0.18/kWh. Therefore this project needs the subsidized debt from the Feds in order to provide sufficient returns to attract project and tax equity investors. Without a loan guarantee, it looks as though this project could be unfinance-able."