According to the company, it has a power purchase agreement with the Arizona utility APS for the electricity generated at Solana. The plant will have a power generation capacity of 280MW.
The Solana generating station will generate enough electricity to power 70,000 homes while avoiding over 475,000 tons a year of greenhouse gases that would otherwise contribute to climate change, said Abengoa Solar.
The plant will employ the proprietary Concentrating Solar Power trough technology developed by Abengoa Solar, and will cover a surface of approximately 1,900 acres.
Santiago Seage, CEO of Abengoa Solar, said: “Today’s site approval, with the renewal of the federal investment tax credit in October 2008 brings us a step closer to beginning construction on Solana. We need until the summer of 2009 to obtain the remaining permits and shortly before that we should be ready to finance Solana, once financial markets improve.”
Abengoa Solar is a company engaged in developing PV, CSP and industrial heat technologies for commercial, industrial and utility applications. The company’s primary focus is the use of R&D as a means of product improvement in manufacturing, installation and operation.
