A proposed concentrating solar power (CSP) project in San Luis Obispo County, California is being planned by solar-thermal power developer Ausra Inc. The project will construct the Carrizo Energy Solar Farm(CESF), a 177MW power plant using Ausra’s Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector (CLFR) technology.

Ausra has filed an Application for Certification with the California Energy Commission and approval has to be granted before construction can begin.

If licenses are granted, site construction activities will begin in the first quarter 2009 and the plant is expected to begin generating power in 2010. It’s anticipated that the entire CESF will be in full commercial operation by first quarter 2012.

The CESF is located in an unincorporated area of eastern San Luis Obispo County, west of Simmler and northwest of California Valley, California. The CESF includes the solar farm site, a minimal offsite transmission system connection, and construction laydown area. The CESF site will encompass approximately 640 acres.

The Project design will incorporate Ausra’s proprietary CLFR technology to concentrate solar energy on pipes in an elevated receiver. The concentrated solar energy boils water within a row of specially coated stainless steel pipes in an insulated cavity to produce saturated steam. The steam produced in the receivers is collected in a series of pipes, routed to steam drums, and then to the two turbine generators. Steam used by the steam turbines is condensed back to water and returned to the solar field.

California power giant Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced back in November 2007 that it had entered into a power purchase agreement with Ausra to purchase the entire 177MW of solar power produced by the project.

Ausra has suggested that the power plant will create more than 350 jobs on-site during construction and an additional 100 permanent jobs in the area.

Up until now, Ausra have not built a commercial solar thermal facility with the technology only being limited to small demonstration plants. The company claims that it can deliver power at 10.4 cents per kilowatt-hour with its CLFR technology compared to about 9.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for a coal-fired plant. But it goes on to add that it can potentially cut costs to 7.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in the next three years when they begin constructing even larger power plants.

“This 177-megawatt plant is the first manifestation of Ausra and PG&E’s shared vision of competitively priced, large-scale solar electric power,” said Glen Davis, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Ausra. “We’re excited to be partnering with PG&E to deliver clean power at hours of peak demand.”

Another partnership between Ausra and Pacific Gas and Electric, as well as Florida Power & Light Co. is also behind a planned solar thermal power project in Florida.

At this stage, though, the Carrizo Energy Solar Farm license application is still before the California Energy Commission.