BrightSource Energy Inc. announced on Monday that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has conditionally committed to provide US $1.37 billion in loan guarantees to support the financing of BrightSource's Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System.

The loan guarantee is made possible by the DOE's Title XVII loan guarantee program, which was started in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act to support commercially proven technology in addition to innovative renewable energy technology. 

Under Section 1703 of the program, DOE issues a conditional commitment to guarantee loans to be provided by the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank.  Execution of the final loan guarantees is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions specified in the conditional commitment.

When constructed, Ivanpah will be the world’s largest solar energy project, nearly doubling the amount of solar thermal electricity produced in the U.S. today.

“The loan guarantee commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy serves as a tremendous validation of our technology, the BrightSource team’s ability to execute, and the Ivanpah project’s role in meeting our nation’s large-scale renewable energy needs,” said John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy. “We’re truly humbled by the opportunity to help build our nation’s green energy economy by creating good jobs for local communities.  We look forward to beginning construction on the Ivanpah project, making a real and substantive impact on climate change, and creating a model for environmentally-responsible energy projects.”

Last week, the company submitted a new design for the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System project. This mitigation proposal, filed with the California Energy Commission (CEC) and the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), would reduce the project's size from 440 to 392 megawatts (MW) and reduce its overall footprint by 12 percent.