According to the president, two companies will receive nearly $2 billion in conditional loan guarantees, resulting in hundreds of construction and permanent jobs. The first company cited was Abengoa Solar, which will receive a $1.45 billion loan guarantee to build a large-scale solar plant in Arizona.
The Abengoa project is expected to create as many as 1,600 construction jobs and 85 permanent jobs while also generating 280 megawatts of clean energy - which a White House fact sheet notes is enough to power 70,000 homes.
The plant is expected to be operational in 2013 and will also be significant for its ability to store the energy it generates, unlike many other current solar plants.
Also, Abound Solar Manufacturing received a conditional commitment for a $400 million loan guarantee to expand a solar panel plant in Colorado and to build a new one in Indiana. That position is expected to create up to 1,500 permanent jobs, while producing enough panels to power more than 200,000 homes each year.
