Smart Grid Stimulus: Two Advanced Solar Projects Offered Almost $2 Billion in Conditional Loan Guarantees

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Two advanced solar projects have been offered conditional commitments for almost $2 billion in Recovery Act-backed loan guarantees. Abound Solar Manufacturing LLC was offered a $400 million loan guarantee to build state-of-the-art thin-film solar panels. DOE says this will be the first time manufacturing technology for cadmium-telluride panels is deployed commercially anywhere in the world. Abengoa Solar Inc., a Spanish multi-national company with two divisions in the U.S., has been offered $1.45 billion in guarantees for the construction and operation of a concentrating solar power plant in Solana, Arizona. The project will add 250 MW of capacity to the electric grid with parabolic trough solar collectors. The collectors will be coupled with an advanced six-hour thermal energy storage system, which DOE says is the first of its kind in the country. More than 70% of the parts and products for the Solana plant will be made in the US.

Quick Take: These two projects are part of a swarm of commitments to loan guarantees from the Energy Department. A dozen or so other clean energy projects also have been offered Recovery Act backing recently.

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