DOE BACKS $1.45 BIL AZ SOLAR POWER PLANT

DOE finalizes Abengoa $1.45 billion loan guarantee
Sarah Mcbride (w/Gerald E. McCormick), December 21, 2010 (Reuters)

"A unit of Spanish conglomerate Abengoa SA…got the final sign-off on the U.S. Department of Energy's largest renewable-energy loan to date, a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for a 250-megawatt solar thermal power plant in Gila Bend, Arizona…[To build] renewable energy resources and [lessen] dependence on fossil fuels…regulators have [this year] approved several large-scale renewable energy plants in the Southwest, but many of them haven't yet lined up financing.

"With the loan guarantee…Abengoa Solar Inc will be able to start construction on its Gila Bend plant, which at 250 megawatts will be big enough to power at least 75,000 homes."

Schematic of parabolic trough technology with tracking capacity (click to enlarge

"The size of Abengoa's DOE loan guarantee tops [a conditional loan guarantee for $1.37 billion] awarded to BrightSource Energy…to support its 370 megawatt Ivanpah plant in California."

Schematic of parabolic trough technology with storage capacity (click to enlarge

"Abengoa's Solana plant will use parabolic trough technology, meaning arrays of mirrors will collect energy from the sun and use it to heat fluid. The fluid will power steam generators that produce electricity. The plant will store electricity using a molten-salt technology.

"The project should generate some 1,600 to 1,700 construction jobs, and about 80 operational jobs upon completion…Arizona Public Service utility unit will purchase Solana's output…Abengoa also has a 250-megawatt parabolic-trough plant under development in California…"