FEDS BACK SOLAR POWER PLANTS

Department of Energy Offers $2 Billion in Conditional Loan Guarantee Commitments for Two California Concentrating Solar Power Plants; Projects Will Create Nearly 1,800 Jobs, Expand CSP Deployment, and Drive Down Cost of Solar Installations
June 14, 2011 (U.S. Department of Energy)

"…[The U.S. Department of Energy made] conditional commitments to provide loan guarantees to support two concentrating solar power (CSP) projects - the Mojave Solar Project (MSP) in San Bernardino County, California, and the Genesis Solar Project, located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Riverside County, California…[A] conditional commitment for a $1.2 billion loan guarantee [will] support the Mojave Solar Project and a conditional commitment for up to a $681.6 million loan guarantee [will] support the Genesis Solar Project…

"…At 250 megawatts (MW) each, the projects' combined capacity will double the nation's currently installed CSP capacity and displace a total of 40 percent of the output from a typical 500MW coal-fired plant. Abengoa Solar Inc., the Mojave Solar project sponsor, estimates that project will create more than 830 construction jobs and 70 operating jobs. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the Genesis Solar project sponsor, estimates that project will create approximately 800 construction jobs and 47 operating jobs…"

Schematic of the technologies backed by DOE (click to enlarge)

"The 250MW Mojave Solar Project will be the first U.S. utility-scale deployment of Abengoa's latest Solar Collector Assembly (SCA), a significant improvement over the prior generation of parabolic trough technology installed in the United States in the 1980s and 90s…[It uses] a lighter, stronger frame designed to hold parabolic mirrors that are easier and less expensive to build and install. The Assembly was originally developed in connection with a DOE award provided by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy…[Its 30% more efficient] heat collection element…[and] advanced mirror technology…permit the collection of the same amount of solar energy from a smaller solar field…[It] will operate without fossil fuel back-up systems…

"The Mojave Solar Project will avoid over 350,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and is anticipated to generate enough electricity to power over 53,000 homes. Power from MSP will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. An estimated eighty percent of total costs, including both capital equipment and labor, are expected to be sourced in the U.S. as MSP will purchase all of the receiver tubes from a facility in New Mexico, the parabolic trough mirrors from a new facility in Arizona and other key equipment from different suppliers in several states across the country."

Abengoa's trough technology (click to enlarge)

"The 250MW Genesis Solar Project will feature proven and scalable parabolic trough solar thermal technology that has been used commercially for more than two decades. The project is expected to avoid over 320,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually and produce enough electricity to power over 48,000 homes. Power from the project will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The lender-applicant, Credit Suisse AG submitted the application under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

"The Department of Energy's… loan guarantee programs support the deployment of commercial [and innovative] technologies…[and] the development of advanced vehicle technologies…[T]otaling over $32 billion to support 32 clean energy projects…[the] 17 generation projects will produce over 27 million megawatt-hours annually, or enough to power over two million homes…[It provided] over $10 billion in loan guarantees to solar generation projects…[including] four of the world's largest solar projects, [as well as] two geothermal projects, the world's largest wind farm and the nation's first new nuclear power plant in three decades…"