FollowAt a festive celebration on Friday, June 18th, 2011, US Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, California’s Governor Jerry Brown and Joseph DeConinck, the mayor of Blythe, broke ground on the Blythe concentrating solar power plant (CSP) facility together with representatives of Solar Millennium (Erlangen, Germany) and Solar Trust of America.
Early construction works for the first two power plants with a net capacity of 242 megawatts (MW) each, commenced at the end of 2010.
The Solar Millennium Group is planning up to four solar thermal power plants at Blythe with a total power of 1,000 megawatts
Solar Power for more than 300,000 American households
Solar Trust of America, the American company unit within the Solar Millennium Group, plans to build up to four solar-thermal power plants with an overall capacity of about 1,000 megawatt at this location. The four power plants combined are to supply enough electricity for more than 300,000 American households and thus save some two million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. The fact that the Californian Mojave desert is among the world’s best solar energy locations was proven during the ceremony, which featured an outdoor temperature of 113 °F (45 °C).
A major milestone in the U.S. renewable energy economy
“Breaking ground on what will be the world’s largest solar power project is a major milestone in our nation’s renewable energy economy and shows that the United States intends to compete and lead in the technologies of the future,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “This project shows in a real way how harnessing our own renewable resources can create good jobs here at home and contribute to our nation’s energy security.”
Overall investment amounts to roughly USD 2.8 billion
Dr. Christoph Wolff, CEO of Solar Millennium AG, adds, “Blythe marks not only a milestone for Solar Millennium, but also for the successful history of solar energy in general. For the first time, we are utilizing solar energy with capacities equaling those of nuclear power or major coal-fired power plants. I am pleased that we are able to make our contribution to reaching California’s ambitious climate targets as well as supporting the local economy. I would like to thank all those persons, who contributed to this achievement through their unceasing commitment and trust”. The overall investment sum for the first two solar-thermal power plants projected in Blythe amounts to roughly USD 2.8 billion.
USD 2.1 billion loan guarantee
Only a few weeks ago, US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, had offered the project company the conditional commitment for a USD 2.1 billion loan guarantee. The loan guarantees are the precondition for financing some 75% of construction costs of the first two 242 MW power plants with borrowed capital. The conditional commitment defines the covenants to be met by the applicant in order to receive the loan guarantees granted by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The Executive Board of Solar Millennium assumes that the Company will manage to meet all of these conditions, particularly the financial close for both power plants, by late summer this year.
Solar Trust of America expects to create some 1,000 direct jobs during the construction phase and several thousand indirect jobs through supplier relations. The two power plants are to be connected to the grid by 2014. The final building permit for all of the four power plants projected at the Blythe location had already been granted in autumn 2010.
The electricity generated in Blythe 1 and 2 will be purchased by the US utility Southern California Edison (SCE). As such, SCE meets the requirements by the state of California to increase the share of renewable energies in total power production. Since the beginning of the year, the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) force the Californian utilities to cover 33% of power generation with renewable energies by 2020.
