SolarReserve, a Santa Monica, Calif.-headquartered developer of large-scale solar power projects, says the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has offered the company a conditional commitment for a $737 million loan guarantee for the 110 MW Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project to be built in Tonopah, Nev.
According to the company, the DOE loan guarantee offer is a critical step in the progress of this landmark project, with construction slated for this summer and the start of operations in late 2013.
Electricity from the project, which will use SolarReserve's molten-salt power-tower technology, will be sold to NV Energy under a long-term power purchase agreement approved by the Nevada Public Utilities Commission in 2010.
Source: SolarReserve
Showing posts with label DOE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DOE. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
DOE Provides $1.187 B Loan Guarantee for 250 MW Calif Project
SunPower Corp., sponsor of the 250 MW California Valley Solar Ranch power plant, says that the project has been offered support via a conditional commitment for a loan guarantee of up to $1.187 billion from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The project is under development in San Luis Obispo County, Calif.
NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., will assume all ownership and financing responsibilities for the project, subject to certain conditions. SunPower will design, build, and initially operate and maintain the solar power plant.
Construction is expected to start in the second half of this year, contingent on permitting and financing, with a portion of the project expected to begin operations by the end of this year and the balance coming online in 2012 and 2013.
SOURCE: SunPower
NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc., will assume all ownership and financing responsibilities for the project, subject to certain conditions. SunPower will design, build, and initially operate and maintain the solar power plant.
Construction is expected to start in the second half of this year, contingent on permitting and financing, with a portion of the project expected to begin operations by the end of this year and the balance coming online in 2012 and 2013.
SOURCE: SunPower
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
DOE Issues Conditional Commitment of $967 Million for Solar Project in Arizona
The U.S. Department of Energy has made a conditional commitment of a loan guarantee worth up to $967 million for the 290MW (AC) Agua Caliente solar PV farm, located on 2400 acres of former agricultural land site east of Yuma, AZ. Preliminary construction on the site has begun, with the first electricity expected to be produced later this year or early 2012. The entire project is scheduled for completion in 2014.
NRG Energy announced in December that its solar subsidiary had reached an agreement with First Solar to buy the Agua Caliente project and planned to invest up to $800 million in equity, on thecondition of the approval of the DOE loan guarantee.
The power plant (equivalent to about 348MW [DC]) will be designed, built, and operated by First Solar and will be equipped with around 4 million of the company’s cadmium-telluride thin-film PV modules. Some 400 construction and other jobs will be created over the course of the project.
When completed, the project will be the largest utility-scale PV generation facility in the world, according to the companies and DOE.
Pacific Gas & Electric has already signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the electricity generated by Agua Caliente, which will be carried by the existing Hassayampa-North Gila 500KV transmission line adjacent to the site.
For the first time on a utility-scale U.S. PV plant, fault ride-through and dynamic voltage regulation technologies will be used to help deal with voltage sag and swell and other power system disturbances, and maintain the reliability and stability of the grid transmission systems.
Although the announcement means the final award of the loan guarantee is likely, it is not a done deal.
NRG spokesman David Knox told PV-Tech via email that the “actual financial close” of the loan guarantee “is subject to customary condition precedents to any financing,” including “delivery of final documentation, completion of due diligence, receipt of final credit rating, and receipt of all final approvals related to the project and the loan.”
While it cannot predict the exact timeline, the company anticipates “a minimum of two months will be needed to fulfill” those precedents to achieve a closing of the loan agreement.
The size of the loan guarantee could also change, according to Knox.
“The amount is subject to DOE completing its due diligence and confirming the amount of costs that are eligible to be financed under the DOE Loan Guarantee program,” he explained. “Among other things, changes in cost and interest rate could affect the amount of the loan.”
The NRG spokesman also confirmed that the company will not raise any other financing at the project level, explaining that it “will rely on its existing cash on-hand and liquidity facilities to provide cash equity and letters of credit.”
At the project site, “switchyard site preparation and access road construction began in Q3 2010,” said First Solar spokesman Alan Bernheimer in an email to PV-Tech. “Construction will not ramp until the close of financing, which is expected in Q2 2011.”
Bernheimer, who noted that no permitting or other regulatory issues remain to be settled, said that the Agua Caliente project “is expected to synchronize with the power grid and start to sell initial power under its power sales contract with PG&E in late 2011 or early 2012.”
He stated that First Solar has not disclosed what type of inverters or other balance of systems gear will be deployed for the project, nor whether the company’s newly acquired RayTracker tracking systems will be used on the former White Wing Ranch site.
NRG Energy announced in December that its solar subsidiary had reached an agreement with First Solar to buy the Agua Caliente project and planned to invest up to $800 million in equity, on thecondition of the approval of the DOE loan guarantee.
The power plant (equivalent to about 348MW [DC]) will be designed, built, and operated by First Solar and will be equipped with around 4 million of the company’s cadmium-telluride thin-film PV modules. Some 400 construction and other jobs will be created over the course of the project.
When completed, the project will be the largest utility-scale PV generation facility in the world, according to the companies and DOE.
Pacific Gas & Electric has already signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the electricity generated by Agua Caliente, which will be carried by the existing Hassayampa-North Gila 500KV transmission line adjacent to the site.
For the first time on a utility-scale U.S. PV plant, fault ride-through and dynamic voltage regulation technologies will be used to help deal with voltage sag and swell and other power system disturbances, and maintain the reliability and stability of the grid transmission systems.
Although the announcement means the final award of the loan guarantee is likely, it is not a done deal.
NRG spokesman David Knox told PV-Tech via email that the “actual financial close” of the loan guarantee “is subject to customary condition precedents to any financing,” including “delivery of final documentation, completion of due diligence, receipt of final credit rating, and receipt of all final approvals related to the project and the loan.”
While it cannot predict the exact timeline, the company anticipates “a minimum of two months will be needed to fulfill” those precedents to achieve a closing of the loan agreement.
The size of the loan guarantee could also change, according to Knox.
“The amount is subject to DOE completing its due diligence and confirming the amount of costs that are eligible to be financed under the DOE Loan Guarantee program,” he explained. “Among other things, changes in cost and interest rate could affect the amount of the loan.”
The NRG spokesman also confirmed that the company will not raise any other financing at the project level, explaining that it “will rely on its existing cash on-hand and liquidity facilities to provide cash equity and letters of credit.”
At the project site, “switchyard site preparation and access road construction began in Q3 2010,” said First Solar spokesman Alan Bernheimer in an email to PV-Tech. “Construction will not ramp until the close of financing, which is expected in Q2 2011.”
Bernheimer, who noted that no permitting or other regulatory issues remain to be settled, said that the Agua Caliente project “is expected to synchronize with the power grid and start to sell initial power under its power sales contract with PG&E in late 2011 or early 2012.”
He stated that First Solar has not disclosed what type of inverters or other balance of systems gear will be deployed for the project, nor whether the company’s newly acquired RayTracker tracking systems will be used on the former White Wing Ranch site.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
How 'American' Are Your Solar Panels?
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) loan-guarantee program - part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) - has had an undeniably positive effect on solar project deployment and equipment manufacturing in the U.S. However, ARRA qualification requirements have often been a source of confusion for developers and manufacturers.
Over the past couple of years, many solar equipment providers have set up shop in the U.S. in order to comply with the ARRA's Section 1605 Buy American provisions, which impose certain domestic-content requirements on projects backed by ARRA funding. "ARRA-compliant!" quickly became a golden term in product marketing.
Of course, under many PV cell and module manufacturers' current labor models, cell fabrication and module assembly may not take place under the same roof - or even within the same country.
U.S.-assembled modules may contain cells manufactured abroad, and U.S.-manufactured cells may be integrated into modules produced elsewhere. Which types of modules are eligible under the ARRA's rules? What about balance-of-system components?
These distinctions are the subject of a decision issued last week by the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) office. The ruling extended a waiver - originally issued Sept. 30, 2010 - that excludes certain types of solar equipment from Buy American rules until Aug. 6, 2011.
The EERE's decision means that both U.S.-manufactured modules containing foreign-manufactured cells and their opposite - foreign-manufactured modules comprising U.S.-manufactured cells - remain exempt. The ruling also waives so-called ancillary items and equipment, including charge controllers, combiner boxes, wiring and racking equipment, and other items (except inverters and batteries) used in solar installations.
"The Assistant Secretary has determined that application of Section 1605 restrictions would be inconsistent with the public interest for incidental and/or ancillary solar photovoltaic equipment, when this equipment is utilized in solar installations containing domestically manufactured PV cells or modules," the EERE writes in its memorandum of decision.
"What the DOE has tried to do is live within the spirit of the law, while also allowing companies to make the best market-based determinations they can," Salo Zelermyer, an associate in the Environmental Strategies Group at law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, tellsSolar Industry.
The memorandum explains that complications inherent to multi-site, multi-country PV module manufacturing can make it difficult to determine where "final manufacturing" - for the purposes of ARRA compliance - takes place.
Consequently, the EERE says it teamed with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to conduct "extensive research" into the nature of solar manufacturing to explore three possible rulings: requiring only domestic module assembly, mandating that both cells and modules be made in the U.S., or allowing either cell manufacture or module assembly to count for compliance.
The third option - the agency's chosen ruling - "recognizes EERE's determination that the manufacturing process for cells and the final PV module production represent distinct and significant stages in the solar PV manufacturing chain," the memorandum says. "Conducting either of these discrete activities in the United States creates roughly equal numbers of American jobs."
Not surprisingly, Suniva, a Norcross, Ga.-based monocrystalline solar cell manufacturer, immediately spoke out in support of the EERE's interpretation of "American" modules.
"This is an important step by the Department of Energy to support American companies manufacturing the part of the solar supply chain that contains the highest value and most intellectual property - the cells," said Bryan Ashley, Suniva's chief marketing officer, in a statement.
The company, which received a $15 million working capital loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank Of The United States last November, exports approximately 90% of its annual production to countries in Asia and Europe, according to a 2010 press release.
Zelermyer says that the solar market as a whole - not just Suniva and other firms with an explicit stake in the EERE's ruling - can expect to benefit from the waiver's extension.
"This frees up project developers to source their projects according to a more market-based decision, while maintaining the spirit of the provision: supporting U.S.-backed manufacturing," he explains. "Ideally, when you don't place constraints on the market, the industry is free to source its components in the most cost-effective manner."
Zelermyer, who has previously served as counsel to the DOE, says we may or may not see another extension of the waiver when it reaches its Aug. 6 expiration. He predicts that the agency will base its decision on the progress made by existing stimulus-funded projects.
"Most stimulus awards have already been given out, but some larger projects take longer to put into place," he notes. "Depending on how companies are proceeding with their procurements, we may see another waiver, or the DOE may determine it's not necessary."
by Jessica Lillian
Over the past couple of years, many solar equipment providers have set up shop in the U.S. in order to comply with the ARRA's Section 1605 Buy American provisions, which impose certain domestic-content requirements on projects backed by ARRA funding. "ARRA-compliant!" quickly became a golden term in product marketing.
Of course, under many PV cell and module manufacturers' current labor models, cell fabrication and module assembly may not take place under the same roof - or even within the same country.
U.S.-assembled modules may contain cells manufactured abroad, and U.S.-manufactured cells may be integrated into modules produced elsewhere. Which types of modules are eligible under the ARRA's rules? What about balance-of-system components?
These distinctions are the subject of a decision issued last week by the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) office. The ruling extended a waiver - originally issued Sept. 30, 2010 - that excludes certain types of solar equipment from Buy American rules until Aug. 6, 2011.
The EERE's decision means that both U.S.-manufactured modules containing foreign-manufactured cells and their opposite - foreign-manufactured modules comprising U.S.-manufactured cells - remain exempt. The ruling also waives so-called ancillary items and equipment, including charge controllers, combiner boxes, wiring and racking equipment, and other items (except inverters and batteries) used in solar installations.
"The Assistant Secretary has determined that application of Section 1605 restrictions would be inconsistent with the public interest for incidental and/or ancillary solar photovoltaic equipment, when this equipment is utilized in solar installations containing domestically manufactured PV cells or modules," the EERE writes in its memorandum of decision.
"What the DOE has tried to do is live within the spirit of the law, while also allowing companies to make the best market-based determinations they can," Salo Zelermyer, an associate in the Environmental Strategies Group at law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, tellsSolar Industry.
The memorandum explains that complications inherent to multi-site, multi-country PV module manufacturing can make it difficult to determine where "final manufacturing" - for the purposes of ARRA compliance - takes place.
Consequently, the EERE says it teamed with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to conduct "extensive research" into the nature of solar manufacturing to explore three possible rulings: requiring only domestic module assembly, mandating that both cells and modules be made in the U.S., or allowing either cell manufacture or module assembly to count for compliance.
The third option - the agency's chosen ruling - "recognizes EERE's determination that the manufacturing process for cells and the final PV module production represent distinct and significant stages in the solar PV manufacturing chain," the memorandum says. "Conducting either of these discrete activities in the United States creates roughly equal numbers of American jobs."
Not surprisingly, Suniva, a Norcross, Ga.-based monocrystalline solar cell manufacturer, immediately spoke out in support of the EERE's interpretation of "American" modules.
"This is an important step by the Department of Energy to support American companies manufacturing the part of the solar supply chain that contains the highest value and most intellectual property - the cells," said Bryan Ashley, Suniva's chief marketing officer, in a statement.
The company, which received a $15 million working capital loan guarantee from the Export-Import Bank Of The United States last November, exports approximately 90% of its annual production to countries in Asia and Europe, according to a 2010 press release.
Zelermyer says that the solar market as a whole - not just Suniva and other firms with an explicit stake in the EERE's ruling - can expect to benefit from the waiver's extension.
"This frees up project developers to source their projects according to a more market-based decision, while maintaining the spirit of the provision: supporting U.S.-backed manufacturing," he explains. "Ideally, when you don't place constraints on the market, the industry is free to source its components in the most cost-effective manner."
Zelermyer, who has previously served as counsel to the DOE, says we may or may not see another extension of the waiver when it reaches its Aug. 6 expiration. He predicts that the agency will base its decision on the progress made by existing stimulus-funded projects.
"Most stimulus awards have already been given out, but some larger projects take longer to put into place," he notes. "Depending on how companies are proceeding with their procurements, we may see another waiver, or the DOE may determine it's not necessary."
by Jessica Lillian
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