A Spanish company says it will move forward with plans to build a concentrating solar tower facility near Joshua Tree National Park in California.
Abengoa bought out partner BrightSource last week and said it would go ahead with construction of a single molten salt tower at the proposed Palen project, an idea from which the partners had backed away in September when the California Energy Commission approved just one of two proposed 250-megawatt towers.
The molten salt technology – which Abengoa uses at its Solana plant in Arizona – can store thermal energy to continue producing power when the sun isn’t shining. The new tower could be shorter than the 750-foot towers originally proposed, the Desert Sun reported. The company is hopeful that Congress will extend the Investment Tax Credit, while pursuing alternative financing options, the Sun wrote.
Abengoa subsidiaries came under investigation by the Labor Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for allegations related to construction of the Solana plant, the Arizona Republic reported in January.
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