SCE, BrightSource sign deal for 1,300MW of solar thermal power

Published: 16-Feb-2009

By: Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer

Agreement requires approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, calls for a series of seven projects totaling 1,300MW

Southern California Edison and BrightSource Energy have reached agreement on a series of contracts for 1,300MW of clean solar thermal power, which can serve nearly 845,000 homes.

According to SCE, the first of these solar power plants, sized at 100MW and located in Ivanpah, California, could be operating in early 2013 and are expected to produce 286,000MWh of renewable electricity per year.

BrightSource will build and place in commercial operation each of its plants as quickly as permitting and infrastructure allow. The full 1,300MW of projects will produce 3.7 billion kWh of clean energy and avoid more than two million tons of CO2 emissions annually, the equivalent of removing more than 335,000 cars from the road.

Stuart Hemphill, vice president of renewable and alternative power at Southern California Edison (SCE), said: “These contracts represent an addition to the renewable portfolio.”

SCE is engaged in purchasing renewable energy. In 2007, the utility purchased about 12.5 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, which comprises about 16 percent of SCE’s total energy portfolio. SCE also recently signed two wind-energy contracts. One agreement, with Puget Sound Energy signed in January, calls for 2 billion kilowatt-hours over the next two years. The other, with AES Mountainview, calls for 66.6 megawatts from a wind farm in the San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs.

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