The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between SolarReserve, a California-based developer of utility-scale solar power projects, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for 150MW Rice Solar Energy project.

The solar project, to be located 30 miles northwest of the city of Blythe in eastern Riverside County, California, will utilize its energy storage capabilities to supply approximately 450,000MWh of electricity—enough to power up to 68,000 homes during the peak electricity periods.

The Rice Solar Energy project will use an advanced molten salt system technology licensed from United Technologies to store 10 hours of solar energy and consequently generate electricity during cloud cover or after sunset and shift power production to meet peak power demand.

SolarReserve CEO Kevin Smith said that the CPUC’s approval represents an important milestone in bringing non-intermittent renewable energy assets online to meet the state’s renewable portfolio standards and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

“Moving ahead on this project is especially exciting for us given we are a California-based company deploying technology developed here locally and will provide a reliable electricity product to thousands of Californians,” Smith said.