U.S. gives loan guarantee for largest solar plant
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Energy Department said recently it awarded a $967 million loan guarantee to an NRG Energy subsidiary to help pay for the world's biggest solar power plant using photovoltaic panels.
The loan guarantee will support the construction of the 290-megawatt Agua Caliente Solar generating facility in Yuma County, Arizona that will use thin solar panels.
The facility will help the Obama administration meets its goal to double the amount of U.S. electricity generated from renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
"Solar projects like this are helping the U.S. to compete globally for the clean energy jobs of today and the future," said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
"Together, we will create hundreds of jobs and reduce the nation's fossil fuel dependence and carbon intensity," said Tom Doyle, president of NRG Solar.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company will purchase power generated at the solar plant and deliver it to its customers in California. The plant is expected to be built by 2014.
Related News

Solar power is the red-hot growth area in oil-rich Alberta
CALGARY - Solar power is beating expectations in oil and gas rich Alberta, where the renewable energy source is poised to expand dramatically in the coming years as international power companies invest in the province.
Fresh capital is being deployed in the Alberta’s electricity generation sector for both renewable and natural gas-fired power projects after years of uncertainty caused by changes and reversals in the province’s power market, said Duane Reid-Carlson, president of power consulting firm EDC Associates, who advises on electric projects in the province.
“From the mix of projects that we see in the queue at the (Alberta Electric System…