Solar Project On U.S. Land In California Approved, Group Says
Bloomberg : October 05 2010
By Jim Efstathiou Jr. and Christopher Martin
Regulators will announce approval today of the first solar-power project on federal land that produces electricity by focusing sunlight to generate heat, according to an environmental group supporting the proposal.
The plant east of San Diego will be built by Tessera Solar, a unit of the closely held, Dublin-based utility NTR Plc, Johanna Wald of the Natural Resources Defense Council said today. A second solar project by Chevron Corp. that will use photovoltaic panels has also been approved, she said.
“We’re very pleased with the way these projects moved forward,” Wald, who heads the environmental group’s public lands program in San Francisco, said in a phone interview.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will hold a press conference today “to announce a major milestone in renewable-energy development on public lands,” according to a statement by the Interior Department, which didn’t provide more details.
Together, the projects will have the capacity to generate 754 megawatts. A megawatt is enough to power about 800 average U.S. homes, according to the Energy Department. Provided that construction begins by the end of the year, both will be eligible for grants under a Treasury Department clean-energy financing program created under President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus program.
Sempra Energy
Tessera has proposed a $2.1 billion, 709-megawatt solar- thermal electricity project on federal land near El Centro, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of San Diego, according to the company. Power produced would be sold to Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas & Electric Co. under a long-term contract that was approved by state regulators.
The technology focusing sunlight generally uses mirrors to to heat liquids that are then used to generate power. The more common photovoltaic plants use solar panels, which convert sunlight directly to electricity.
Chevron Energy Solutions, based in San Francisco, wants to build a solar project on 516 acres about 8 miles east of the Lucerne Valley, which is northeast of Los Angeles. The first phase would include as many as 180,000 photovoltaic panels generating a total of 20 megawatts, with construction to start late this year. When complete, it will be capable of producing 45 megawatts.
The Chevron project would connect to a nearby Southern California Edison Co. line. The second phase would be contingent on additional transmission capacity.
Developers of renewable-energy projects can apply for grants of 30 percent of their costs in lieu of an investment tax credit if construction begins by the end of the year.