SolarReserve Gets Approval for Crossroads Solar Thermal Project

The certificate clears the way for the construction of its 150 MW Concentrating Solar Power project at Crossroads. The final approval follows the earlier unanimous decision (11-0) passed by the Transmission line sitting committee and Arizona Power Plant to provide the required certificates. The current sanction includes the related transmission lines that will connect the project to the power grid of Arizona Public Service.

The Crossroads concentrated solar energy will be situated over a privately owned land, currently under regular cultivation and located west of the Town of Gila Bend in Maricopa County, Arizona. The project is designed to utilize the latest molten salt power tower technology formulated by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a part of United Technologies Corporation.

The technology will allow storing of solar heat energy up to 10 hours and produce electric power when required even after the setting of the sun in the evening. The molten salt energy storage facility offers consistent and expected level of power generation.

The solar project when commissioned will generate around 450,000 MWh of clean energy every year, which is sufficient to provide power to around 100,000 homes during peak electric power requirement period.

The proposed concentrated solar energy project is anticipated to generate over 450 jobs at the construction site in the two year period of construction and will offer around 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, which include offsite supply and supporting activities. The Concentrating Solar Power project planned with an investment of over $500 million is anticipated to generate around 45 full time job positions during the 30 year life time of the project. The project will spend over $10 million every year to meet most of its local requirements.

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