Starwood, Lockheed team up to provide solar thermal power to Arizona utility

Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Energy Group Global and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) firmed up plans today to build the world's largest dispatchable solar energy plant, capable of providing enough electricity for nearly all 73,000 Arizona Public Service electricity customers.

Starwood Energy said today it signed a power purchase agreement with Arizona Public Service for the Starwood Solar I project. Lockheed Martin plans to design and build the concentrated solar trough plant with the capacity to generate 290 megawatts in Harquahala Valley, Ariz. The agreement commits all renewable energy generated from the facility to electric utility Arizona Public Service.

The facility's technology expects to use parabolic mirrors that track the sun and focus its heat on a heat transfer fluid, which heats water, creating steam. Then, the steam is used to run conventional steam turbines to generate electricity. Starwood says it can store energy in the heat transfer fluid in order to generate electricity later.

Starwood Energy is the investment arm of private equity firm Starwood Capital Group Global. Starwood Energy and Lockheed said previously that they were teaming up to work on utility scale solar generation projects in North America, focused on solar generation needs in California and the southwest United States (see Lockheed Martin, Starwood Energy to pursue utility scale solar).

"When we formed our alliance with Lockheed Martin 18 months ago, this is exactly the type of game-changing project we envisioned tackling together," said Brad Nordholm, CEO of Starwood Energy, in a news release.

The latest collaboration is a customized response to the Arizona utility, which wants to further expand its energy sources from renewables. In 2008, Arizona Public Service signed a deal with Spain's Abengoa Solar for a 280 MW plant expected to go into operation in 2011 (see Abengoa to build 280 MW solar power plant in Arizona).

The Starwood-owned facility, slated for completed in 2013, is expected to be located in Maricopa County, Ariz., 75 miles west of Phoenix. Lockheed Martin is charged with responsibilities related to engineering, procurement and construction, as well as operations and maintenance, once the facility is complete.

Cleantech developments making news in the past 24 hours

• Metabolix, ADM to open new bioplastics factory
• Rockwool nears construction on Indian insulation factory
• Two Israeli wastewater firms to locate in Michigan

View the last week of cleantech developments here | Subscribe to full feed