The solar project, which has been licensed by CEC, will use parabolic trough technology where parabolic mirrors will be used to heat a transfer fluid which will then used to generate steam that will produce electricity through steam turbine generators.
The proposed facility, which will be developed for agricultural purposes, will help the state meet its Renewables Portfolio Standard, which requires California’s electricity utility companies to use renewable energy to produce 20% of their power by 2010 and 33% by 2020.
The company will begin construction on the project on 1,765 acres of private land in San Bernardino County in the fourth quarter of 2010 and expects the project to begin its commercial operations by the first quarter of 2013.
California energy commissioner Anthony Eggert said that the CEC, working in collaboration with other state and federal partners, scored another big win for the economy, the environment, and for California’s clean energy future with today’s approval of the Abengoa solar project.
“The facility’s 250MW of clean, renewable energy brings us closer to meeting California’s renewable energy and climate goals while providing hundreds of green jobs,” Eggert said.
