INDUSTRY: Lincoln Renewable gets solar power deal

Lincoln Renewable Energy, a developer of U.S. solar and wind projects, has entered into 20-year power sales agreements with Southern California Edison to deliver electricity from its Marathon and Agincourt solar power plants.The planned photovoltaic solar power plants, both located in San Bernardino County, are expected to go into construction in 2013.The combined California solar projects ― the 25-megawatt Marathon and the 12.5-megawatt Agincourt ― will consist of approximately 125,000 solar modules and are expected to produce enough electricity annually to power 14,000 households.Dan Foley, chief operating officer of Lincoln Renewable,knives wholesaler said the agreements,Crushing equipment obtained after the company responded to a Renewable Auction Mechanism solicitation by Southern California Edison, call for the company to permit, build and create inter-connections to the grid.

The combined projects, calling for a $90 million investment by Lincoln Renewable, should be in operation in October 2014, Foley said."With its huge solar resources, California represents an enormous opportunity for solar power developers and customers alike," said Declan Flanagan, chief executive of Lincoln Renewable. "California customers will benefit from the low-cost, fixed price,2200mah battery pack clean and native energy these two projects will produce for decades to come."The projects, which cover a 154-acre span at Marathon and an 82-acre site at Agincourt, will generate 280 to 320 jobs during construction phase; and three to four ongoing jobs after the plants are complete, Foley said.

Lincoln Renewable Energy, based in Chicago, claims more than 400 megawatts of solar projects in mid-and late-stage development in California and more than 1,000 megawatts of solar in development across the U.S.Larry McLelland, director of Advanced Transportation Technology and Energy at College of the Desert, said there are other large-scale utility projects under way in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, such as the 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight project near Desert Center, but he said RAM projects like the one Lincoln will be involved with are not insignificant."Southern California Edison has purchase agreements with a number of solar energy developers, so it's part of what they're doing to meet the state requirement of 33 percent renewable power," McLelland said.The RAM program, approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, supplements the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard for energy providers within the service territories of Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric. It complements the California Solar Initiative,Vibrating feederOptical frame promotes small-scale renewable development and offers local employment opportunities to the region.