Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)(NYSE: PCG) announced Thursday it has entered into an agreement with Alpine SunTower, LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG), for 92 megawatts (MW) of renewable, solar thermal power.
The Alpine SunTower project features eSolar’s modular, scalable solar thermal technology and is scheduled for completion in 2012. The project will be located near Lancaster, Calif. and will produce approximately 192 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year. This is equal to the annual consumption of nearly 30,000 average homes.
The project announced today is part of eSolar and NRG’s recently announced plans to develop up to 500 MW of solar thermal power in California and across the Southwestern United States.
Solar thermal power generates electricity by converting solar energy to heat, which boils water to create steam that turns a turbine. The spinning turbine then generates electricity like a traditional steam plant but without burning fuel or causing emissions, such as greenhouse gases.
eSolar’s concentrating solar power projects feature a proprietary combination of optics and software in a pre-fabricated form factor for cost-effective scalability. Its scalable plants will be built in 46-MW unit solutions, each of which requires one quarter square mile of land.
PG&E has been on a roll in recent months contracting hundreds of MW of solar thermal power–most recently 230 MW from AV Solar Ranch 1.
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