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PG&E vows fivefold increase in solar use

PLANTS TO BE BUILT; WILL USE SUN, STEAM TO PRODUCE ENERGY

In a historic boost for renewable energy, PG&E said Thursday it will increase its use of solar power nearly fivefold.

The Northern California utility agreed to buy at least 500 megawatts of solar energy, beginning in spring 2010, from LUZ II, one of the nation’s largest solar power developers in the 1980s.

The deal calls for at least one 100-megawatt solar-thermal plant, which will use both the sun and steam to produce energy, to be built within four years. Several other plants will follow, said Charles Ricker, president of LUZ II’s U.S. operations.

If completed, the amount of solar power produced in California would dwarf the 380 megawatts currently being produced by large-scale solar plants nationwide.

By Sarah Jane Tribble
Mercury News

Full Story: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/15250217.htm

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