SCE brings more solar thermal to California

Southern California Edison (SCE), a division of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), has signed a contract with eSolar to purchase an additional 245 MW of solar power for its 13 million customers.

According to SCE, which claims to be the largest buyer of all solar energy produced in the U.S., the project will be the first U.S. commercial effort using power tower solar thermal technology.

The project, which is to be built in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California, is expected to begin delivering energy in 2011, with a total of 105 MW of solar power by 2012, and ramping up to 245 MW by 2013.

This deal marks the first power purchase agreement for Pasadena, Calif.-based eSolar, a company which grabbed $130 million from Idealab, Google.org and Oak Investment Partners in its most recent round of funding (see Going modular with eSolar).

Touting a modular, scalable system, eSolar plans to have a pilot plant up and running in Southern California later this year and said it has secured land rights in the U.S. to support the production and transmission of over 1 gigawatt of power.

In the past two years alone SCE, California’s largest electric utility, announced 13 renewable energy contracts which promised to provide the utility’s customers with up to 804 MW more of renewable energy (see SCE signs large new renewable energy contracts and Southern California Edison signs seven new renewable power contracts).

Current PPA contracts in SCE's portfolio include 1,025 MW from wind, 906 MW from geothermal, 354 MW from solar, 174 from biomass and 226 MW from small hydro.

At 90 per cent, the Edison company claims to be the largest buyer of U.S. solar energy.