San Joaquin Solar 1 LLC and San Joaquin Solar 2 LLC, collectively referred to as San Joaquin Solar 1&2 LLC, filed an application for certification with the Commission in November last year.

The California Energy Commission has accepted the Application for Certification (AFC) for the 106.8-megawatt San Joaquin Solar 1&2 hybrid power plant project as “data adequate”.

The project consists of two hybrid design solar thermal electric generating plants, comprising a solar field and biomass facility for each plant and will produce up to a nominal 106.8 megawatts (MW) net of renewable energy. The two plants will be owned and operated by San Joaquin Solar 1 LLC and San Joaquin Solar 2 LLC, a subsidiary of Portugal-based Martifer Renewables Electricity LLC.

If approved by the commission, the project is expected to be on line by the first quarter of 2011.

Each plant will be sized for a nominal 53.4 MW net of solar generation, complemented by 40 MW net of biomass-generated production. The biomass energy production will be subordinate to production from the solar field, supplementing solar production during non-solar periods and shoulder solar hours. Thus, the maximum net generating capacity of the Plants will be 53.4 MW each.

The Commission is the lead agency (for licencing thermal power plants 50 megawatts and larger) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has a certified regulatory program under CEQA.