Abengoa Solar, a subsidiary of Spanish technology company Abengoa, S.A. (ABG.MC), said it has signed a contract with a U.S. utility to build a 280-megawatt (MW) solar-thermal plant (CSP) near Phoenix Arizona.
Abengoa said the plant, which it will own and operate, would be the largest in the world, if operational today.
The plant is scheduled to go into operation by 2011 and will be located 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, near Gila Bend, Arizona. It will sell the electricity produced to Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) over the next 30 years for a total revenue of around $4 billion, according to a release.
The plant, named the Solana Generating Station, will employ a proprietary concentrating solar power (CSP) trough technology developed by Abengoa Solar, and will cover a surface of around 1,900 acres.
The solar trough technology uses trackers with high precision parabolic mirrors that follow the sun’s path and concentrate its energy, heating a fluid to over 700 degrees Fahrenheit and using that heat to turn steam turbines. The solar plant will also include a thermal energy storage system that allows for electricity to be produced as required, after the sun has set.
With this project, Abengoa Solar reinforces its presence in the United States, where it has been building and operating solar plants that supply industrial steam and heat. Abengoa Solar’s said its objective is to build and operate large solar plants across the Southwest.
Abengoa noted that the construction of this solar plant and others under contract in the U.S. are subject to a long-term extension of the solar investment tax credit (ITC).
The ITC is set to expire at the end of 2008, unless extended by the U.S. Congress.
About Abengoa
Abengoa is a technological company that applies innovative solutions to sustainable development in the infrastructures, environment and energy sectors. It currently has a presence in more than 70 countries in which it operates with its five business groups: Solar, Bioenergy, Environmental Services, Information Technologies, and Industrial Construction and Engineering.
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