Days after scaling back a massive Mojave Desert solar plant, BrightSource said Monday it won $1.37 billion in Energy Department loan guarantees for the project.
The planned 392 MW Ivanpah solar thermal plant is among the world’s largest, with 3,500 acres of mirror arrays on three separate sites concentrating solar heat for steam generators. It is expected to nearly double the amount of solar thermal generation power generation in the U.S.
The loan guarantees, still subject to negotiation, should help BrightSource obtain financing for construction. The guarantees provide vital support for project, noted Peter Darbee, CEO of PG&E, which will purchase about two-thirds of the electricity generated by Ivanpah.
Ivanpah Valley in southern California could be the site of one of the world's larges solar plants
The plant is a key first step toward California’s ambitious renewable energy target. The state has mandated that a third of its power come from renewables by 2020.
It also appeared to spark interest in neighboring Nevada for similar solar thermal plants. “I look forward to BrightSource and other solar companies putting more Nevadans to work by building major projects like this sin Nevada very soon,” said Senator Harry Reid.
In a press release, BrightSource reaffirmed its intention to begin construction in the second half of 2010, with San Francisco-based Bechtel serving as construction engineers. The project is using soalr-powered steam turbines from Siemens on the first of the three sites. One thousand construction jobs are expected to be created.
Ten days ago, BrightSource said it would scale back the overall “footprint” to the sprawling facility by 12 percent. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, had worried the plant would curtail habitat for an endangered desert tortoise.
The number of towers, which collect heat from the ground mounted mirrors, were cut to three from seven.
The project is one of small number of fast-track plants earmarked by the Department of the Interior. It would be the first solar plant built in California in two decades.
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