Wind Energy

Abengoa to Commence Construction of the Mojave Concentrated Solar Power Project

Abengoa, an international company that deploys novel engineering solutions for the development of clean renewable energy and ecological segments, declared that it has finalized a loan assurance of $1.2 billion with the Department of Energy to construct the Mojave Solar Project.

The solar thermal plant using concentrating solar power (CSP) will deploy sophisticated proprietary parabolic trough know-how of the company to augment the efficiency of the plant and bring down the total investment cost.

The Department of Energy (DOE) provided a loan guarantee to sustain the project through the Loan Programs Office. With an estimated total investment of around $1.6 billion, the Mojave Solar project expected to produce 280 MW of clean solar power will generate over 900 permanent construction and operations job positions and more than 1000 direct and indirect job opportunities all through the delivery chain all over the country.

The concentrated solar energy project has already commenced the construction process and is anticipated to get commissioned in 2014. The company has entered into a power purchase accord with Pacific Gas & Electric to purchase the power generated from the facility for a period of 25 years and the PPA is subject to the authorization by the California CPUC.

The solar power plant to be located near Barstow, California around 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles will generate adequate electricity to meet the power requirements of over 54,000 households and offset over 350,000 t of carbon dioxide discharges every year. The plant while contributing a number of ecological and economic benefits to California will also assist the state to achieve its renewable energy goals.

By José Santamarta, www.abengoa.com