Wind Energy

Tessera announces surprise sale of US solar concentrating thermal power project to K Road Power

Calico Solar, located near Barstow, CA is one of California’s few fully permitted utility scale solar power facilities. Calico Solar has an interconnection agreement to supply 850 MW, enjoys strong support from the State of California and is well positioned to contract financeable power purchase agreements with California’s leading retail power suppliers. Total capital investment is estimated to be $3.0 billion. Once in operation the Calico Solar project will provide clean, reliable, California based renewable energy to meet the annual demand of up to 350,000 California households.

“While 100 MW of Phase 2 will be reserved for new generations of SES SunCatcher technology, K Road’s Calico Solar Project will convert the first 750 MWs to widely tested and accepted photovoltaic technology, insuring the project’s immediate financeability, further reducing environmental impacts, and providing the lowest cost solar production to help meet California’s renewable portfolio standard,” said William Kriegel, K Road’s founder and Chief Executive Officer.

K Road Sun is exclusively dedicated to developing, owning, and operating utility scale solar power facilities in the western United States. The K Road team has a unique, proven track record in power generation with decades of experience developing, constructing and operating generation plants worldwide, including solar, wind, biomass and hydro facilities. K Road believes that in order to be the lowest cost, most environmentally friendly source of sustainable energy, companies must be indifferent to technology and source production capacity from the most efficient, robust and economically viable sources.

K Road’s Managing Partner, Gerrit Nicholas added, “We are excited to move the Calico Solar Project into a financeable position, and we look forward to developing, constructing, and operating one of the world’s largest solar projects. In addition, we are pleased to play a role in creating economic opportunity for the Barstow community and helping society wean itself off of carbon based power supplies through environmentally advanced technology.”

The move follows Southern California Edison’s plan to terminate an agreement with Tessera to buy power from the proposed Calico solar plant. The solar-thermal power project, to be built on public land managed by the Federal Bureau of Land Management, was approved by state and federal regulators in October this year.

Tessera Solar said that it continues its efforts with securing project equity and satisfying the required compliance work on the Imperial Valley Solar Project near El Centro, California. Tessera Solar is an independent power company and developer, builder, operator and owner of large utility-scale solar power plants.

The company’s first plant, Maricopa Solar, began operations in Arizona in January 2010. With two of the world’s largest solar plants in California, Tessera Solar is changing the way people think about solar as the preeminent renewable energy source for the 21st century.

Our philosophy is simple: work in partnership with public and private stakeholders to build affordable and truly sustainable power facilities that deliver economic development and clean, predictable power to communities.

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) is one of the most promising sources of renewable energy for the 21st century. Tessera Solar is the exclusive developer and operator of the SunCatcher™ solar dish Stirling system developed by Stirling Energy Systems, Inc. (SES).

www.tesserasolar.com