Tessera Solar Lands Texas CSP Contract
Emerging Energy Research : June 30 2009
On 22 June 2009, San Antonio, Texas-based Tessera Solar North America signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with San Antonio municipal utility CPS Energy. The 27 MW PPA stems from CPS Energy’s 13 August 2008 request for proposals and is the first contract signed from the RFP. To date, no CSP systems have been installed in Texas.
Tessera, a subsidiary of Ireland-based investment company NTR, was founded in 2008 as the solar development division and sister company to Stirling Energy Systems (SES). The West Texas Solar project will utilize 1,080 SunCatcher dish engines supplied by SES. Tessera expects to break ground in summer 2010 and fully commission the plant by 2011.
NTR investment concentrates SES activities
Since taking a US$100 million controlling stake in SES on 17 April 2008, NTR has reshaped Stirling Energy Systems’ overall competitive positioning. In late 2008, SES was divided into two distinct business units-Tessera and SES-to isolate project development and technology R&D activities, respectively. Tessera aims to leverage NTR’s development and project finance experience gained from its previous Airtricity successes, and ultimately become technology agnostic. Alternatively, SES-already rejuvenated with a new crop of engineers focused on component manufacturing and auto industry relationships-is zeroed in on delivering its first commercial-scale systems by the end of 2010.
Tessera breaks free from California
The 27 MW West Texas Solar project represents an initial step to break free of the 1,750 MW California pipeline that has been hanging over Tessera (formerly SES) since 2005. Regulatory challenges in Texas are likely to be less cumbersome than those faced in California, and will allow Tessera to deliver a system in late 2010, potentially before its California systems. Tessera has been saddled with fulfilling state and federal regulatory obligations for its 900 MW (Imperial Valley 1 and 2) and 850 MW (Calico 1 and 2) PPAs with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE). In addition to re-negotiating its California utility PPAs, Tessera’s fate hinges on prompt regulatory decision-making, which to date has been a major impediment to California CSP development.
SES attempts to scale with manufacturing strategy
To deliver 1,777 MW of 25 kW dishes for its three PPAs, SES has tapped Linamar, Tower Automotive, McClaren, RW Beck, and Schuff Steel to design, test, and supply system components. By leveraging the comparative aspects of dish engines and automotive engines and the current excess manufacturing capacity centered in Detroit, Michigan, SES expects to streamline its manufacturing process. However, SES still faces the overarching challenge of delivering a commercially-viable installation for financial and utility verification. Aside from its four newly installed and second generation systems at Sandia National Laboratories, SES intends to install 60 dishes totaling 1.5 MW in Phoenix, Arizona as a reference project by the end of 2009.