AZ GIVES BIG SUN FINAL OK

Arizona Corporation Commission Approves SolarReserve’s Crossroads Solar Energy Project; …permitting milestone for…proposed…solar thermal project…[with] innovative molten salt energy storage solution
February 7, 2011 (SolarReserve)

"SolarReserve, a U.S. developer of utility-scale solar power projects…has received its final Certificates of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) by unanimous decision (5-0) from the Arizona Corporation Commission for its 150 megawatt (MW) Crossroads Solar Energy Project. The approval includes the associated transmission line connecting the project to Arizona Public Service’s transmission grid…

"…The project will create over 450 construction jobs during the two-year construction period and up to 5,000 direct and induced jobs, including offsite supplier and supporting activities. The project has a capital cost in excess of $500 million and is expected to generate economic development in Gila Bend and throughout the region. It will employ at least 45 full-time, permanent operations staff throughout the 30-year project operating life and has an annual operating budget of up to $10 million per year, largely spent locally."

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"Located on privately owned and actively cultivated land west of the Town of Gila Bend in Maricopa County, Arizona, the 150 megawatt Crossroads Solar Energy Project will supply approximately 450,000 megawatt hours annually of reliable, green, zero-emission electricity to Arizona - enough to power up to 100,000 homes during peak electricity periods…

"…[Crossroads Solar] will utilize an advanced molten salt, power tower technology developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a division of United Technologies Corporation, providing the ability to store 10 hours of solar energy and generate electricity on demand, even after the sun goes down. This energy storage capability provides a stable, predictable electricity product and can replace conventional power generation that produces harmful emissions from burning coal, natural gas and oil…"

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"…SolarReserve, LLC…holds the exclusive worldwide license to the molten salt, solar power tower technology developed by United Technologies Corporation. Since its formation in late 2007, SolarReserve’s team of power project professionals have assembled a concentrated solar power development portfolio of more than 25 projects…with potential output of more than 3,000 megawatts in the United States and Europe…[and] is also developing…photovoltaic projects across the United States…and internationally…

"SolarReserve’s molten salt, concentrating solar power tower technology was successfully demonstrated in California under a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored pilot project in the late 1990s. The 10-megawatt pilot facility utilized a molten salt receiver designed, engineered and assembled by Rocketdyne, now a part of United Technologies Corporation."