The Obama administration has given another boost to big solar in California, finalizing the $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee for Abengoa Solar’s 250-megawatt (MW) Mojave Solar project. The financing, which had been conditionally set in June, joins a host of loan guarantees closing before the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Section 1705 program for renewable energy development wraps up at the end of the month. The program has been under fire of late due to the Solyndra bankruptcy.

The Mojave plant, set for about 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, will use concentrating solar power (CSP) technology. Abengoa does both tower power and parabolic trough versions of CSP, but in this case it will