CPUC approves PG&E contracts

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has gained approval from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for two, 25-year power purchase agreements with Oakland-based solar thermal company BrightSource Energy.
It will allow PG&E to buy 310MW of power from two solar thermal power plants in California. The initial project, a 110MW power plant in Ivanpah Solar Power Complex, will be located on six square miles of land about 50 miles north-west of Needles in the Mojave Desert and is due to begin operations by July 2012. A second, 200MW installation is scheduled to start operating a year later at the site. A request by PG&E to purchase an additional 1,000MW of solar power from BrightSource is still pending.

According to the CPUC, PG&E also negotiated a royalty agreement with BrightSource for payments based on sales and licensing fees of its technology. The agreement is expected to provide financial benefits to PG&E and its customers. Terms of the royalty agreement were kept confidential.

The CPUC’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) programme requires investor-owned utilities, energy service providers and community choice aggregators operating in California to obtain 20% of their retail sales from renewable energy sources by 2010. On November 17, 2008, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order (S-14-08) that established an RPS goal of 33% by 2020.

Chevron partners with BrightSource

Chevron is partnering with Oakland-based BrightSource Energy for a solar thermal plant. Construction of the Coalinga plant would begin this year. The second-largest US oil company is going ahead with the project to create steam that boosts production at an ageing California oilfield, according to a report by Reuters.  

The plant will cover 100 acres of Chevron-owned land with more than 7,000 mirrors. The mirrors will reflect sunlight onto a 323ft tower. The plant, which will not produce electricity, will replace some steam production now powered by natural gas. Chevron pumps the steam into an oil field outside Caolinga to lower the viscosity of heavy oil, making it easier to extract from the well. The company would consider deploying the solar thermal system – which will be the first of its kind to produce steam for oil production – at larger fields if it is successful.

Guardian launches laminated parabolic mirrors

Glass manufacturer Guardian Industries has introduced new laminated parabolic mirrors for CSP applications. The new product, EcoGuard Solar Boost-LP, can withstand damage and high winds. With a glass mean free path of 3.2mm, EcoGuard Solar Boost-LP mirrors attain an average solar transmission of 95%, according to the company. Two layers of glass are laminated together with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer. A mirrored surface is contained within the laminate on the back side of the forward glass. The thin front glass results in a shorter transmission path.

Electrotherm seeks land for 40MW CSP plant

Electrotherm Renewables is reportedly planning to invest between $140 million to $160 million for setting up a 40MW solar thermal power plant in Banaskantha, a district in the north-east of Gujarat state. The company, a part of diversified engineering group Electrotherm India, had earlier this year signed a memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat government for setting up of a 50MW plant but it has received approval for only 40MW, Siddharth Bhandari, managing director of  Electrotherm Renewables, told financial daily The Business Standard. The company is currently scouting for a 500 acre site. The plant will be commissioned in 2013.