Loan agreed for world's largest solar plant
24/2/10
The US Department of Energy has conditionally granted $1.37bn in loan guarantees for construction and start up of the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, a 440MW solar power facility in southeastern California, which being built by BrightSource Energy and Bechtel.
According to an article in NCE magazine, Bechtel "has partnered with BrightSource on the Ivanpah project as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, and is an equity investor in the project".
The US DOE's commitment to provide loan guarantees is a key milestone in the development of the Ivanpah project, the article claims, "providing crucial financial support for California's first large-scale commercial solar thermal power plant in nearly two decades".
Ivanpah will be the world's largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the US. The facility will include three separate solar thermal power plants and generate enough electricity to run 140,000 homes, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 408,000t per year.
"The DOE Loan Guarantee program serves as a tremendous catalyst for building our clean energy infrastructure,” Ian Copeland, president of Bechtel Renewables and New Technology, told NCE. “The Ivanpah project will usher in a new era of advanced solar power, and help the state and local economies by providing new jobs.”
Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2010 following issuance of permits by the California Energy Commission and the US Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
