U.S. Backs New Loans for Projects on Energy

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Source: The New York Times

As the federal fiscal year ends, and with it the part of the stimulus program that finances some energy loans, the Energy Department issued $1.07 billion in loan guarantees on Wednesday afternoon, for two solar energy production plants, and on Thursday it plans to announce $156 million in grants for high-risk but potentially high-reward research projects.

The department is under scrutiny by House Republicans after it arranged $528 million in loans to a California solar equipment maker, Solyndra, that went bankrupt; Republicans warned the department again Wednesday not to rush through the remaining loan guarantee applications before the program’s deadline, Sept. 30. Representative Cliff Stearns of Florida, chairman of a subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, estimated that nearly $5 billion in loan guarantees could be finalized by Friday. The department announced it would wrap up all the applications by Thursday.

On Wednesday, the department said it was giving final approval to a loan guarantee of $737 million for the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, near Tonopah, Nev. That project, to be built by SolarReserve, does not involve the panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity. Instead, the builders will install 17,500 mirrors, each swiveling over the course of a day to focus the sun’s light on a black-painted tower 640 feet high. Inside the tank is salt. Heat from the molten salt will be used to boil water for steam, which will be used to make electricity. The technique allows storage of the sun’s energy, as heat, for hours when the sun is not shining. The plant is expected to generate up to 110 megawatts.

The Energy Department also announced a $337 million guarantee for Mesquite Solar 1, which will use solar panels to generate electricity. That project, 45 miles west of Phoenix, will use an unusual system to convert the electricity into alternating current, the kind that is transmitted on the power grid.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/science/earth/29solar.html