California solar plant files for bankruptcy

From what I've been told by people that work in the solar industry, these types of stories will continue to roll out. It's unfortunate, but the solar industry is going to have a tough time sustaining itself without massive government subsidies.

Associated Press

The latest setback in a stalled 1,000-megawatt solar plant in the Southern California desert came nearly 10 months after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Gov. Jerry Brown broke ground on what was then touted as the world's largest solar project and a keystone of the Obama administration's solar energy efforts.

Blythe plant developer Solar Trust of America sought bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court on Monday because the Oakland firm was unable to meet a deadline for an Energy Department loan guarantee.

Solar Trust listed assets of up to $10 million and debts of up to $100 million. The company's two main assets are the Blythe project and a proposed 500-megawatt Palen solar project in Riverside County. The Palen project 10 miles east of Desert Center hasn't gotten Bureau of Land Management approval. The company still maintains development rights to both projects.

Plans call for the Blythe solar project in Riverside County to partially stretch across 7,000 acres of public land in the lower Colorado River Valley with giant parabolic solar troughs, enough to power 300,000 homes. And it could create 1,000 construction jobs in the city of 20,800 people.

Blythe City Manager David Lane told the Desert Sun of Palm Springs that residents are taking the Solar Trust bankruptcy in stride.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-solar-bankruptcy-20120403,0,7195246.story

Only because of Natural Gas prices but I wouldn't worry about it. There is some manufacturing coming back from China because of the new, cheap and abundant supply of gas we have.

Those companies are doing their best to raise gas prices. They will figure it out soon enough...

Its near impossible to compete against China's solar industry that is getting a shit ton more government money. Plus the oil and the nuclear industries in the USA are heavily subsided. Energy in the US has a long history of risks/cost being socialized with the profits remaining private.

This technology won't take off until they can install it in your house like a new furnace. With a reasonable price. You have to make it compact as possible and affordable to the masses. That's how things become commonplace. China knows and is working on it.

Well as soon as everyone switches over to natural gas, they can claim a shortage and raise prices. That is the free market at work.

Why do you think China is subsidizing their solar industry at rates 10 times us? They are purposely putting our industries out of business. Remember, this is a communist country. How many more industries will we cede to them? Soon we will either work for the government, retail, health care or logistics. (Warehousing and distribution) There is not much left.

Forget about solar on your house. The future is here in the southwest and China know it. That's why they are close to finalizing a multi billion dollar deal with Clark County Nv. How long before our electric bills will arrive from Beijing?

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-05/the-chinese-try-to-harness-the-nevada-sun

CHINA TO DROP SOLAR ENERGY TO FOCUS ON NUCLEAR POWER



Asia Pulse
March 12, 2012
China will accelerate the use of new-energy sources such as nuclear energy and put an end to blind expansion in industries such as solar energy and wind power in 2012, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says in a government report published on March 5.
China will instead develop nuclear power in 2012, actively develop hydroelectric power, tackle key problems more quickly in the exploration and development of shale gas, and increase the share of new energy and renewable energy in total energy consumption.
The guidance indicates a new trend for new-energy and renewable energy development in China from 2012. Analysts believe that the development of the solar and wind power industries will stabilize while hydropower will have the top priority in renewable energy development in China.
-- Hydropower to contribute two-thirds of renewable energy
According to China's development plan for 2011-2015, China aims to increase the share of renewable energy consumption to 11.4 per cent of total energy consumption in China by the end of 2015.
As solar power and wind power development may slow down by government measures to curb blind expansion, hydropower is expected to play a more important role in fulfilling the renewable energy consumption target and contribute two-thirds to the target.
The National Energy Administration (NEA) plans to add 20 GW of hydropower installed capacity, up 57 per cent year on year, which marks the biggest increase in recent years.
Based on the average cost of 6,870 yuan/kW during 2006-2010, the planned 20 GW hydropower installed capacity will require an investment of 137.4 billion yuan (US$21.7 billion).
Besides these developments, the government report emphasizes accelerating the establishment of mechanisms that promote the use of new-energy sources. It also lays down the need to strengthen overall planning, promote auxiliary projects, strengthen policy guidance, and expand domestic demand. This means China will pay more attention to the utilization of new energy, hence wind power and solar power, which failed to achieve sound utilization, will bid farewell to the era of fast development, said Zhai Ruoyu, former general manager of the China Datang Corp., one of China's five power giants.
-- Share of non-fossil energy use in China drops in 2011
The share of non-fossil energy consumption, including hydropower, nuclear power, wind power and solar power, in total primary energy use in China witnessed a decline of 0.3 percentage point from 8.6 per cent in 2010 to 8.3 per cent in 2011, says Qian Zhimin, deputy director with the NEA.
According to a report from the China Electricity Council on the performance of China's power industry in 2011, the average operating hours of hydropower generating facilities decreased 376 hours to 3,028 hours in 2011 due to severe drought, the lowest level of the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, the operating hours of wind power generating units plunged by 144 hours in 2011 despite an increase of 48.16 per cent in on-grid wind power output.
The operating hours of solar power generating units also declined in spite of the tripling of installed capacity of solar PV power.
http://www.elp.com/index/from-the-wires/wire_news_display/1621584677.html

So a 4 day old Bloomberg Businessweek article is overshadowed by propaganda from the Chinese government? Nope.

If you don't like the free market fucking you over you must be a communist who hates freedom.

Nuclear subsidies: 7.1 billion per year
Coal: 14 billion (2010)
Oil, natural gas: 72 billion (2002-2008)

Not to mention the huge subsidies to railroads to transport the coal.

OMG, we're like socialist or something, what the hell happened to the rugged individualist energy companies, who controls their own destiny. Don't let the republitards find out, there will be major angst over this!

Where did you get this info? The Huffington Post?

Please explain this because it sounds like an opinion, not fact. We have a glut of natural gas thanks to the Marcellus Shale region in PA, and prices are the lowest they've been in 10 years. It's supply and demand, plain and simple. They can't just 'raise prices'.

If you were a farmer and were getting 10 cents for an ear of corn, but it dropped to 6 cents because the market was flooded with corn, would you grow more of it? Of course not, and gas companies are not drilling new wells because of the same reason. Why should they behave any differently you would as a farmer?

Did you see the 'solar farm' that Obomba visited? It covers 450 acres and provides electricity for 17,000 homes. No wonder solar isn't ready for prime time. This is the biggest in the US, takes up 450 acres, which is nearly a square mile, and it only produces enough power for 17,000 homes?

You have never been here I assume. Acreage is not something that is in short supply. Keep driving your Model T

Especially land you can't farm. Love Vegas, but step past the city limits and you're on Mars.

too much riff raff and off road rednecks out there

Watch it Zimmie!

I didn't even thinly veil that

Don't confuse tax breaks with subsidies...and all American companies receive tax breaks in one way or another. I hate to defend oil companies, but they did pay an effective income tax rate of 41% which is much higher than other industries.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/05/about_those_oil_subsidies.html

That is effectively our oil anyway. Owned by the American people. They have a permit to drill our oil.

Did you know Nevada is the number one gold producing state? Did you know much of the gold produced is being mined by foreign owned companies? Did you know they pay an effective tax of 1%? This is our gold on federal land. Ours. They pay chump change for a permit and haul it out.

And why politicize energy? Does everything have to be political?

Let's look at trends. Prices.

The trend for fossil fuels is up. Way up.
The trend for renewable is down. Way down.

Why we are not taking full advantage of the incredible amount of sun here is foolish. Instead we stake our future on something we know will cost more and more to find and produce. Eventually it WILL run out. Shouldn't we at least have a back up plan?

I drive German cars because they made some good fucking machines.

There are about 131 million homes in the US. Divide that by 17,000 and you have 7,747, or the number of solar farms of the same size to power all the homes in the US. At 450 acres per, we'd have to cover 3.5 million acres with solar panels. That just for electricity, not heat. Solar energy is not the answer; natural gas, on the other hand, is so plentiful we don't have anywhere to store it. A mild winter coupled with a supply that's the largest in the world is going to keep us all warm for many years to come.

How about using resources wisely? Solar is still early in development. One of the best I have seen so far had mirrors that focused the sun on (pipes?) full of a special oil. It was heated to thousands of degrees and stored in insulated tanks. The oil heats water (steam) that drives the generator. Not many moving part to break or wear out. Much less than silicon panels. Natural gas is used as a back up for low sun conditions.

Instead of fighting technology, why can't we let our scientists see if there is a better way? I love technology.

They are Union made, glad you enjoy their product.

Sounds doable. That's about the size of Alaska's national park.