California should approve Abengoa Mojave solar plant

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The California Energy Commission's staff on Friday recommended approval for Spanish multinational Abengoa SA's proposed 250-megawatt Mojave solar thermal power plant in southeast California.

The Commission did not say in its release how much the Mojave plant would cost.

However, as part of the federal government's effort to create clean energy jobs and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to combat global warming, the U.S. Department of Energy in July conditionally offered Abengoa about $1.45 billion in federal loan guarantees for another proposed 250-MW solar plant, Solana in New Mexico.

If Mojave is anything like Solana, the project is estimated to create about 1,200 construction jobs and about 80 permanent jobs, and will likely prevent the emission of some 431,000 tons of CO2 per year compared to a plant burning natural gas.

With the toughest renewable energy mandates in the nation, several companies have proposed building solar power facilities in California.

The Commission said the staff recommendation was not the final decision, but marked the start of a 30-day public comment period, after which the project will be put before the Commission for a final decision when it meets on September 8.

If approved, Abengoa could start construction of Mojave in the fourth quarter of 2010, with commercial service by the first quarter of 2013.

PG&E Corp's Pacific Gas and Electric has already agreed to buy power from Mojave once it enters service to help the San Francisco-based power company meet the state's tough renewable mandates.

The project can supply electricity to about 90,000 homes, using parabolic trough technology to trap the sun's energy to boil a heat transfer fluid to power steam generators.

It will be located on 1,765 acres of mostly fallow agricultural land in San Bernardino County halfway between Barstow and Kramer Junction about 115 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid)