California Regulators Approve Solar Power Plants
Fox Business : September 29 2010
By Sarah McBride
NTR Plc’s Tessera Solar won approval from California regulators for a $2.1 billion, 709-megawatt solar plant, and Next Era Energy Inc.‘s Next Era Energy Resources LLC won approval for a $1 billion-plus, 250-megawatt solar plant.
As the latest in a string of large-scale projects approved in the nation’s most populous state, they are part of a new generation of solar plants capable of producing power on the same scale as plants powered by traditional resources such as coal, although at a higher cost.
The California Energy Commission, which approved the plants on Wednesday, has dealt with six of nine high-priority solar projects on its slate this year. Together, the nine plants represent more than 4,000 megawatts of power.
California has ambitious goals to produce one-fifth of its energy from renewable sources as part of the country’s toughest renewable energy mandates. Last week, the California Air Resources Board raised the goal to 33 percent, potentially granting a long-term boost to the industry.
The state has approved several large-scale solar plants in recent weeks, including a 1,000-MW plant proposed by Chevron Corp and Solar Millennium AG earlier this month. That plant, the world’s largest of its kind, will be located in Blythe, California.
Still Awaiting The Okay
Both Tessera’s and Next Era’s plants are on public land, so they must still win approval from the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management before beginning construction. The bureau is due to vote on their proposals next month.
The Tessera plant, known as the Imperial Valley project, is slated for Imperial County, California, just north of the Mexican border.
It uses a concentrated thermal-power technology called SunCatcher that relies on mirrored dishes to convert sun light into electricity. The technology was developed by Stirling Energy, which like Tessera is majority owned by Irish infrastructure company NTR.
Imperial Valley will be built in two stages. The first, at 300 megawatts, will start producing electricity in 2011. The second, at 409 megawatts, will start producing in 2012.
San Diego Gas & Electric will buy the plant’s output.
Next Era’s plant, known as Genesis, is slated for a patch of the Sonoran Desert in Riverside County, about 200 miles east of Los Angeles.
It will use parabolic trough technology, meaning arrays of parabolic mirrors will collect energy from the sun and use it to heat fluid. The fluid will power steam generators that produce electricity.
Like Imperial Valley, Genesis will be built in two parts, with a 125-megawatt unit going live in 2013. Pacific Gas & Electric will buy the plant’s output, which is enough to power more than 80,000 homes. (Editing by Steve Orlofsky)