Although the city-created project has sputtered at times during its almost three-year permitting process, the Palmdale, CA, hybrid natural gas and solar power generation project has won approval of the California Energy Commission (CEC) Wednesday. However, the approval still doesn’t mean the project will be built.

It could be some time before the City of Palmdale starts construction of the 570 MW hybrid plant. It still needs to find a buyer for the bulk of the proposed plant’s output and then secure a private-sector developer. Nonetheless, the CEC’s 4-0 vote gives approval to what could become the state’s first large-scale combination of natural gas and solar facility to produce baseload electricity.

During daylight hours when parabolic solar thermal collectors are in use, the solar field at the 600-acre site would provide up to 10% of the peak power generated.

CEC Commissioner Karen Douglas said the project should provide “reliable, consistent power.” With mandated mitigation work, there would be no significant impacts on the environment, she said.

Part of the project would require Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. unit to build an 8.7-mile transmission pipeline extension to serve the plant. The project is slated to begin commercial operation in summer 2013. It would be located in part of the high desert region about 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles in the Antelope Valley section of northern Los Angeles County.

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