The world's first geothermal-solar power plant, in Fallon, Nevada, received $40 million under the Section 1603 cash grant program. The 59 MWe Stillwater facility, with the capacity to generate electricity for 50,000 homes, combines 26 MWe of photovoltaic (PV) generating capacity with 33 MWe of baseload geothermal power.
To provide the solar energy, Enel Green Power North America installed more than 89,000 polycrystalline PV panels on a 240-acre parcel of land adjacent to the plant, which opened in 2009.
The Section 1603 program is responsible for the creation of as many as 75,000 jobs in design, construction and manufacturing and $44 billion in total economic output, according to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory study of the program's economic benefit.