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Strategies & Market Trends : Mike's Big Adventure Trading Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: yard_man who wrote (1683)	4/9/2008 8:34:38 AM
From: Square_Dealings	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1791

This article came from the Arizona Republic newspaper: Arizona's solar-power supply is about to get a lot bigger. A solar-energy plant planned near Gila Bend will be among the world's largest when it opens in 2011, Arizona Public Service Co. said Wednesday. If the solar-thermal plant passes upcoming regulatory and tax hurdles, it will be built and operated by a Spanish company. APS will buy all the electricity from the plant to supply its 1.1 million customers. advertisement As environmental concerns and rising costs affect traditional fuel sources, solar likely will be a bigger part of the mix of power supplies that feed the state's energy needs. At 280 megawatts, enough to power at least 70,000 households, the plant will make even more energy than a similar facility announced in December. Together, the two plants represent a departure from small research projects in favor of full-blown power generation. "This is a turning point for APS and the future of the state of Arizona as we move to become the solar capital of the world," APS President Don Brandt said, estimating the Solana plant will cost more than $1 billion and cover 3 square miles. "It will be the dawn of the Solar Age in Arizona," Brandt added. Solar-thermal plants use mirrors to focus sunlight and heat up liquids. They make steam that spins turbines, just like coal or other power plants but without the pollution. Officials say they plan to tap the state's abundant sunshine because it is becoming more likely that global climate-change fears will increase the costs of making electricity the old-fashioned way, with coal. Solar-thermal plants work best in hot places, unlike the more common black solar panels that use a chemical reaction to turn light into electricity whether it is hot or cold. APS, Salt River Project, Tucson Electric Power and other utilities announced in December that they will share the power from a 250-megawatt solar-thermal plant. Unlike that partnership, APS will buy all the power from Solana, $4 billion worth over 30 years, making it a much bigger commitment from the utility. "We will provide more solar capacity per customer than any utility in the United States," Brandt said. Meeting peak demand Abengoa Solar Inc., a Spanish technology company that has several smaller solar-thermal projects in Spain, North Africa and the United States, will build and run the Solana Generating Station.