Yesterday SolarReserve, a developer of utility-scale solar power projects, received final state approval for its 150 megawatt (MW) Rice Solar Energy Project in California, the day after it received an approval for the same-sized Crossroads Solar Energy Project in Arizona. The company is aggressively moving forward on a number of fronts, both domestically and internationally as 2010 ends, and it plans to start breaking ground on new projects in 2011.

Both projects will concentrate solar power on a central tower to superheat molten salt to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The salt will store the heat for up to 10 hours with minimal heat loss and be used to generate electricity via steam generator.

“We have a pipeline of about 30 other solar thermal projects in various stages of permitting here in the U.S., primarily the Southwest, as well as internationally. We also have a pipeline of 1,100 MW of PV projects being developed here in the US,” said SolarReserve spokesperson Andi Plocek. She said the company also has solar thermal projects in Nye County, Nev., the 110 MW Crescent Dunes Solar Project and the Cinco Casas project in Spain.

California approval for the Rice project was achieved in less than 13 months from the initial application, which SolarReserve said is a record.

“The remote site location on previously disturbed, private land is certainly a significant factor to the speed in which permits were received as well as to the lack of interveners,” said Plocek. “Also, the site is not located in any Areas of Critical Environmental Concern or critical habitat areas for listed species.”

According to Plocek, the company plans to break ground on both Crescent Dunes and Rice in 2011. She said the Crossroads project isn’t nearly as far along and that the company is awaiting permits including the Final Certificates of Compatibility from the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee and a Maricopa County Special Use Permit in late 2011. The first is expected in early 2011, the second in later 2011.

The Crossroads project doesn’t require any federal permitting while the Rice project does. The company expects to receive the Notice of Availability of the Federal Environmental Impact Study in late January of 2011.

SolarReserve already secured a 25-year power-purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric for the Rice project, but is still in negotiations with utilities in Arizona for the power that the Crossroads project will produce, Plocek said.

“We are pursuing both ARRA [i.e., American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] and Department of Loan Guarantee funding for a number of projects,” she said.

She could not disclose the amounts the company was seeking. But earlier this month, SolarReserve issued a press release stating that it was purchasing “long-lead materials and equipment” for the Rice and Crescent projects in an attempt to qualify for loan guarantees before the year ends.

Image courtesy of SolarReserve.