eSolar to Build 245 MW of Concentrating Solar Power

June 3, 2008 – Vol.13 No.11

eSolar to Build 245 MW of Concentrating Solar Power.

Southern California Edison (SCE) has signed a power purchase agreement for the solar generated power from pre-fab solar plants to be built in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California.The series of fully operational plants will begin production in 2011.

“SCE is committed to providing renewable energy generation at competitive costs – to this end, we review all of the possible sources to meet the growing demand for clean power,” said Stuart Hemphill, SCE vice president, Renewable and Alternative Power. “eSolar’s proposed solar projects promise to be modular, scalable, and easily and rapidly deployed. SCE is excited about the prospects of eSolar’s unique solar technology and the potential benefits it can bring for our customers.”

eSolar is pursuing a novel approach to large or utility-scale solar projects by utilizing a combination of proprietary optics and software in a pre-fabricated form factor. The company achieves economies of scale with the modular design that focuses on the key business obstacles that have characterized large solar installations – price, scalability, speed of deployment and grid impact.

The company has recently received a $130 million round of funding led by Idealab, Google.org, and Oak Investment Partners.

eSolar, based in Pasadena, California, was founded by CEO Asif Ansari in 2007 to develop, construct and deploy modular, scalable solar thermal power plants.

Southern California Edison is an Edison International company and is the largest electric utility in California, serving a population of more than 13 million via 4.8 million customer accounts. (6/3/08)

Links:

eSolar
http://www.esolar.com

Southern California Edison
http://www.sce.com

eSolar Raises $130 Million to Accelerate Deployment of Prefabricated Solar Thermal Power Plants.

Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: No