Abengoa Solar Plans World's Largest Solar Plant in US Desert

Spanish solar company Abengoa Solar plans to build one of the world's largest solar plants in the Arizona desert, expected to generate around US$4bn in clean electricity over 30 years.

Abengoa Solar, a subsidiary of multi-billion-dollar international technology company Abengoa, has signed a contract with energy utility Arizona Public Service to build, own and operate the Solana Generating Station.

The plant will have a total capacity of 280MW, enough to power 70,000 homes and save over 400,000t of harmful greenhouse gases, according to the company.

The plant will employ a proprietary Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) trough technology developed by Abengoa Solar, to cover a surface area of around 1,900 acres.

"This project will help usher in a new era of large, clean and efficient solar power plants," says Abengoa Solar CEO Santiago Seage.

Construction of the plant is expected to create about 1,500 jobs and employ 85 skilled full-time workers once completed.

The company has also built large solar plants in Spain, Morocco and Algeria, including the world's first commercial CSP solar tower plant in Spain, a demonstration trough plant and a commercial photovoltaic low concentration plant.

By Ozge Ibrahim