The United States Department of Energy finalized a $1.45 billion loan guarantee for Abengoa Solar Inc.’s 250-megawatt Solana project, the largest concentrating solar power plant in the world.
The $2 billion solar project will be located at Gila Bend, Arizona and will use parabolic trough technology to harness solar radiation.
Clusters of parabolic-shaped solar collecting units will redirect solar rays onto a fluid-filled receiver tube situated along the focal line of each parabolic trough reflector. The heated fluid in the receiver chamber will be used to produce steam that will be drive a Rankine cycle steam power plant to generate zero-emission electricity.
The facility will be the first large-scale solar thermal power plant in the country equipped with energy storage technology. Six hours of molten salt thermal energy storage capability will allow the solar plant to deliver power during cloudy periods and even after sunset, which will help meet the increased peak power demand in the summer brought by the use of air conditioning.
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At full capacity, the Solana power plant can produce enough power to meet the electric needs of 70,000 households and offset 475,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, compared with a natural gas-fired power plant.
The construction of the solar plant will create 1,600 to 1,700 new jobs, while over 85 permanent jobs will be available once the plant launches into operation. A factory that will provide mirrors for the plant will create an additional 180 jobs.
“This is yet another example of stimulus funds helping to lead our nation’s and Arizona’s economy back to recovery, while transitioning our energy policies to allow us to become a national and world leader in alternative energy generation,» said Raul Grijalva, a United States representative for Arizona.
This will be the second billion-dollar loan guarantee that the Energy Department has finalized in a span of two weeks. Last Friday, the department settled a $1.3 billion loan guarantee with Caithness Energy L.L.C. and General Electric Energy Financial Services for the 845-megawatt Caithness Shepherds Flat project.
The wind project will employ 400 workers during construction and 35 workers during operation. It will also offset more than 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide each year – equal to the carbon emissions of 200,000 passenger vehicles.
Both loan guarantees will be delivered through the Loan Programs Office, an arm of the energy department designed to provide funding support to the clean energy sector.
“As today’s announcement and other recent announcements of completed loan guarantees for wind and solar projects demonstrate, the Department’s loan program is gaining momentum, creating jobs in communities across the country while putting us on the path to a clean energy future,» said Steven Chu, energy secretary.
