Calling it a major milestone, the Obama administration on Monday agreed what investors say will be the world's largest concentrated solar power plant and one that more than doubles all of U.S. solar output and can power at least 300,000 homes.
The project in the Mojave Desert near Blythe, Calif., is the sixth solar scheme authorized on federal lands within the last month. All are in desert areas.
"The Blythe Solar Power Project is a chief milestone in our nation’s renewable energy economy and shows that the United States intends to contend and lead in the technologies of the future," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in announcing the approval.
Construction on the $6 billion plant is probable to start by the end of 2010, with production starting in 2013. Developer Solar Millennium, a company based in Germany, says the plant will produce 1,066 construction jobs and 295 permanent jobs.
