A California Energy Commission siting committee is recommending the approval of the planned Abengoa Mojave Solar Project in San Bernardino County.
SACRAMENTO [WorldofRenewables.com]
In its presiding member’s proposed decision (PMPD) released today, the committee said the proposed 250-megawatt facility as mitigated, will have no significant impacts on the environment and complies with applicable laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards (LORS).
The proposed decision was based solely on the record of facts, which were established during the facility’s certification proceeding.
The PMPD is not a final decision on the project. The committee released the document for 30 days of public comment and will consider input before bringing the proposed decision to the full five-member Commission for a decision at the Commission’s September 8, 2010, business meeting. The entire document can be found on the Commission’s website at: www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/abengoa/documents/
The Abengoa Mojave Solar Project is being proposed by Mojave Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Abengoa Solar Inc. The proposed project would implement parabolic trough technology to trap the sun’s energy to boil a heat transfer fluid to power steam generators to produce electricity. The proposed facility would be located on 1,765 acres of mostly fallow agricultural land located in San Bernardino County halfway between Barstow and Kramer Junction, and nine miles northwest of Hinkley, California.
If approved by the full Commission, the project would start construction in the fourth quarter of 2010, with commercial service by the first quarter of 2013.
The federal government and the State of California have established the need for the nation and state to increase the development and use of renewable energy in order to enhance the nation’s energy independence, meet environmental goals, and create new economic growth opportunities.
For more information on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Executive Order to advance the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standard, go to: http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/13273
More information on the Abengoa Mojave Solar Project is available at:www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/abengoa/