PG&E boosts BrightSource deal - San Francisco Business Times:

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The Wednesday agreement increases PG&E’s initial contract with the companyt to purchase power from 500 megawattd worth of plants with an optiobn to increase to900 megawatts. Oakland-based now has contracts in place to sell powerfrom 2,61o megawatts of its solad thermal power plants, including 1,300 to . But BrightSource has permitg applications pending for up to9 gigawatts, or 9,000 megawatts. BrightSource’s first power plant is expectex to begin producing powerin 2012. It’s beinvg built in Ivanpah, in the Mojave Desert.
San Francisco-basefd and other investor-owned utilities are required by the state to sourcse 20 percent of thei power from renewable sources by 2010 and 30 percenftby 2017. PG&E has been able to sign contractas to eventually buy far beyond the 20percen threshold. However, in the credit crunch, independent powed producers have struggled to find financing to build new power wind turbines and solar farms andbiofuelp refineries, delaying many It’s unlikely any of the investor owned utilities will be able to meet the 2010 BrightSource has been able to move forwardf though it still must securs project financing for its power “They (PG&E) are developing a lot more confidence in us and in our abilityh to deliver,” said CEO John Woolard.
BrightSource’sw technology relies on thousands of mirrorws that focus the sun onto a solarpowef tower, heating a liquid inside and turning it to which turns turbines that produce Woolard credits BrightSource’s Israel-based pilot plant for encouraginhg PG&E’s confidence in the company. That pilogt plant is producinghigh temperature, high-pressurew steam — though it’s not being used to generate And its steam production has been verified by an independenr international engineering firm. “The highedr the temperature and the more efficient your turbinde can beand thus, the lower your cost and the more reliablse the plant,” Woolard said.