Energy Department Offers $4.5 Billion in Loans for Solar Projects

By RYAN TRACY

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Energy Department said Thursday it would offer about $4.5 billion in loan guarantees for three renewable energy projects in California sponsored by First Solar Inc., allocating funds from shrinking reserves.

The conditional offer to support the projects drew funds from the department's loan guarantee program, which needs more funding from Congress to continue backing renewable energy generation projects.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said "these projects will bring immediate jobs to California in addition to hundreds more across the supply chain."

First Solar, based in Tempe, Ariz., is sponsoring the projects and also supplying thin-film solar panels from an existing manufacturing facility in Ohio and a new plant in Arizona.

The department offered a $680 million loan guarantee for the Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project, a 230-megawatt generation facility that will be located about 80 miles north of Los Angeles in the Mojave Desert. Power from that project will be sold to the PG&E Corp. subsidiary Pacific Gas & Electric Company.

Another loan guarantee would back up to 80% of $1.88 billion in loans for the 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight project, which will be located on publicly managed land in Riverside County. PG&E and Edison International unit Southern California Edison will buy power from that facility.

The third project is Topaz Solar, a 550-megawatt facility to be located in San Luis Obispo County that will send power to PG&E. The Energy Department offered to guarantee up to 80% of $1.93 billion in loans to support it.

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