California regulators approved Thursday two power purchase agreements that PG&E Corp. (PCG) utility Pacific Gas & Electric Co. signed for solar thermal, biofuel and wind power.
The contracts, approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, include a 20-year agreement with a unit of Portuguese energy company Martifer SGPS ( MAR.LB) for the output from a 106-megawatt solar thermal and biofuel hybrid power plant that is proposed to be built in Fresno County, Calif. The plant is expected to be completed by June 2011.
The other contract, with a unit of Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola Renovables SA (IBR.MC), would furnish PG&E with the output from a 90-megawatt expansion of Iberdrola's existing 375-megawatt Klondike wind farm in Sherman County, Ore., over 10 years. The expansion, under construction, is expected to be complete this month.
PG&E signed the contracts as part of its obligation to use renewable sources for 20% of the power it sells by 2010.
