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http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/solar-by-technology-renewable-energy-news/tessera-solar%e2%80%99s-calico-project-is-shovel-ready-licence-granted.html

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has granted a licence for a Tessera Solar special vehicle subsidiary to develop the Calico Solar project in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, the seventh solar plant it has approved in the last two months.

This decision means the company can now qualify for federal stimulus funds, having met the condition of gaining CEC approval by the end of the year.
‘This is a significant achievement for the organisation and a reflection of collaborative coordination between our staff, the CEC and Bureau of Land Management [BLM] in achieving approval of the Calico Solar Project,’ said Tessera Solar North America CEO Bob Lukefahr.
Construction on the project can now proceed as the company received approval from the BLM last week, which allows the use of federal public lands for development.
The CEC unanimously adopted the presiding member’s proposed decision that recommended licensing the 663.5MW project, making the Calico project the fifth commercial solar project to be permitted on federal public land in the US.
But it only reached this milestone after Tessera reduced the project size from its initially proposed 850MW to 663.5MW to gain committee recommendation.
Tessera was only able to secure around half the federal land it had initially sought after using 8,230 acres was considered to present a significant threat to the habitats of animals in the region.
The project will use Stirling ‘SunCatcher’ technology that involves a solar receiver heat exchanger and a closed-cycle engine designed to convert solar power to rotary power.
Tessera Solar has already secured a 20-year power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison for the solar energy generated from the Calico Solar project.
Since August, the CEC has licensed more than 3.49GW of renewable solar power in the California desert.
‘California’s commitment to increasing the amount of clean, renewable solar power is demonstrated in today’s licensing decision,’ said Energy Commissioner Anthony Eggert, who was the presiding member of the committee that reviewed the plant’s application for certification.
The CEC said the project is a direct result of the partnership between California state and the US Department of the Interior. California was the first state to sign a memorandum of understanding with the department to develop long-term renewable energy plans through 30 per cent federal tax credits under Arnold Schwarzenegger’s governance.
The California Renewables Portfolio Standard requires the state’s electricity utility companies to use renewable energy to produce 20 per cent of their power by 2010 and 33 per cent by 2020.
Power major NTR is the majority shareholder of Tessera Solar, which is headquartered in Texas and has offices in California and Arizona.