Dec 22 2010
SolarReserve has received the approval from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for the construction of its 150 MW solar power tower project to be located in an area in eastern Riverside County.
The permission accorded for the plant within 13 months time period demonstrates the commitment of California State in implementing renewable energy projects.
The Rice Solar Energy project will be located over a previously-distributed privately owned land situated 30 miles North West of Blythe, sited in eastern Riverside County. The project when completed will generate around 450,000 MWH of energy every year during its peak power generation periods and the power can be distributed to around 68,000 homes. The project will deploy a unique molten salt power production technology for which the company has taken an exclusive worldwide license from Pratt Whitney & Rocketdyne, a unit of United Technologies. The unique technology allows the collection of solar heat from the morning, use the full potential of it in the afternoon and continue to preserve the heat for nearly eight hours after the sun sets for continuous power production. The technology performs the job of a fossil fuel, coal or gas power utilizing power generator without causing harmful gas discharges. The company has signed a 25 year power purchase accord with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to sell the power generated from the facility.
The project will extend job opportunities to around 500 skilled employees in the construction period and will introduce over 5,300 direct and created jobs in the region. More over the project will spend most of its $5.0 million annual spending locally to assist the local economy. In the first ten years period the project will bring in around $48 million as tax revenues to the state.