Spanish company Abengoa Solar has received a $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the Energy Department to build a concentrated solar plant in the Mojave Desert.

The 280-megawatt plant, which will cost $1.6 billion total, will provide electricity for about 54,000 homes. The plant will be 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles in Barstow, Calif., and will be online by the second half of 2014, according to a company statement from July. Abengoa had previously estimated a completion date of late 2013.

The 26,000-employee parent company, Abengoa SA, has interests in biofuels, engineering, desalination and recycling as well as solar. The Mojave operation will be the company's second U.S. plant and 16th concentrated solar plant worldwide.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has already proposed a contract to buy the power for 25 years, which is pending state approval.

Abengoa previously received a $1.45 billion loan guarantee in December 2010 for its 250 MW Solana concentrating solar thermal plant 70 miles southwest of Phoenix (E&ENews PM, Dec. 21, 2010). The technology does not use photovoltaic solar panels but instead uses parabolic mirrors to focus sunlight on pipes that contain molten salt, heating them to more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The heated salt is used to produce steam, driving turbine generators (ClimateWire, Dec. 22, 2010).

Similar projects that have obtained large cash loan guarantees include BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah plant, SunPower Corp.'s California Valley solar ranch project in San Luis Obispo County, and Solar Trust of America LLC's 1,000 MW project in Blythe, Calif. All the projects are being developed with an eye on the state's renewable portfolio standard of 33 percent by 2020 (ClimateWire, June 15).

Company executives originally offered themselves for interviews yesterday but then abruptly canceled. A public relations representative cited Solyndra Inc.'s high-profile bankruptcy after receiving a $535 million federal loan guarantee as a reason to make Abengoa's case to the public but offered no reason for the cancellation.

Abengoa SA, Abengoa Solar's parent company, reported an operating profit of €28.9 million in 2010, compared with a deficit of nearly €63 million in 2009.

But the company reported a loss after paying taxes, reporting a deficit of €12.7 million in 2010 vs. €60.7 million in 2009.

"The negative working capital and loss are primarily due to the solar plant project operation activity, which currently has a significant portfolio of projects in progress," Abengoa Solar in its 2010 annual report said. "During their construction phase, these projects are financed by our own funds, loans and borrowings and funds for settling short-term payables to suppliers and creditors for construction of the plants. Once these assets come into operation, they will generate stable cash flows."

The company's biofuels arm, Abengoa Bioenergy, has also received federal support, including a $134 million conditional loan guarantee announced last month for its cellulosic ethanol plant in Hugoton, Kan. It also benefited from an Agriculture Department grant in July to grow biomass crops near the same plant, as well as a $34 million grant from DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for a pilot plant in Nebraska.

The loan guarantee to the Spanish company comes as Republicans criticize the DOE program. The agency gave $527 million to California solar panel maker Solyndra, which just filed for bankruptcy protection.

Reporter Anne C. Mulkern contributed.