CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

During the first round of stimulus projects organized by the U.S. Treasury Department last year, the Spanish energy company Iberdrola Renovables won a $294 million contract to develop clean energy. The money—accounting for 60 percent of the $502 million awarded for the first phase of clean energy spending—will be used to finance the construction of five wind farms

Obama’s stimulus plan has $60 billion reserved for the renewable energy sector (wind, bio-mass and solar), designed to double the nation’s installed green energy capacity within three years, while also meeting a target of 10 percent power generation from renewable sources by 2012, rising to 25 percent by 2025.

The financing system is by a direct Investment Tax Credit instead of the usual Production Tax Credits. That is “good news for the sector,” Iberdrola says, noting that the Investment Tax Credit assumes direct aid for 30 percent of the investment, to be paid within 60 days of contract signing.

Among Iberdrola’s principal competitors is another Spanish firm, Acciona, which is already responsible for a thermal-solar plant in Nevada, the largest facility in the world with the capacity of 64 Megawatts (MW).

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