SolarReserve gets California Energy Commission's nod for 150 MW solar project

(ADPnews) - Dec 16, 2010 - US solar projects developer SolarReserve said on Wednesday it had secured a final decision form the California Energy Commission for its 150-MW Rice solar power tower development.

The facility, located northwest of Blythe and eastern of Riverside county, will generate some 450,000 MWh a year, providing enough power for 68,000 households at peak demand. It will use and advanced molten salt power tower technology developed by Pratt Whitney & Rocketdyne to be able to store enough thermal power in the morning so it can operate at full capacity throughout the afternoon and up to eight hours after sunset. All output of the facility will be sold to local utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) under a 25-year agreement.

The project is seen to create 500 construction jobs and bring USD 48 million (EUR 36m) in tax revenues for California in the first 10 years of operation. It is now pending the thumbs-up under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), all to be received in the first quarter of 2011. SolarReserve said it planned to finalise financing deals for the project by the summer of 2011, as it aims to kick off construction in the third quarter of 2011.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.756)

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