That rosy vision was clouded this week as Solar Trust of America, Solar Millennium's parent company, announced the 1,000-megawatt project is now on hold for retooling. The company is abandoning its plans to use solar thermal technology and will switch to the less expensive and less complex photovoltaic -- and an estimated cut of 50 percent in jobs.
The change will mean fewer jobs and delays of a year or more while the project gets new permits from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Solar thermal, also called concentrated solar, produces electricity from heat gathered in reflective solar troughs. Photovoltaic solar panels generate electricity directly from sunlight.
Edward Sullivan, Solar Trust's vice president for external affairs, acknowledged using photovoltaic panels would mean fewer jobs overall but more for local workers since installing panels does not require as high a skill-set as solar thermal. He also said the decision to go with PV was driven by money.
The change also means the project no longer qualifies for the $2.1 billion federal loan guarantee it was awarded earlier this year. It will be financed instead through commercial markets.
The Blythe plant is among four large-scale solar projects planned on public land off Interstate 10 east of the Coachella Valley. Whether the project's environmental impact report also will need to be revised or amended has yet to be decided, although that has been required for other projects switching to PV such as the 663-megawatt Calico project in San Bernardino County.
Joan Taylor, chair of the Sierra Club's Desert Energy Committee, hopes repermitting will provide the opportunity for a second look at the project's impact on the sensitive plants and animals on the site. Sullivan said the project's footprint, 7,025 acres, will likely remain about the same.
Touted as what would be the largest solar plant in the world, the Blythe project is the latest in a growing list of solar thermal projects that have been converted to PV, a trend driven by the falling price of solar panels. While the cost for solar thermal is now running about $4 per watt, panels come in around $2.90 a watt.
Such figures could mean Blythe and other solar thermal projects do not pencil out well for potential investors, driving developers such as Solar Trust to PV to ensure financing.
SOURCE: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110820/BUSINESS/108200308/Massive-solar-project-hold?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
