Friday, April 24, 2009 at 2:10:38 PM - by Nate Lew

A Spanish company is reportedly planning to build $1 billion solar energy plant in Arizona.

According to a report in the Phoenix Business Journal, the facility would be constructed near Kingman by Albiasa, a Spanish company that is said to have other operations in the U.S. The publication notes that the project would generate about 200 megawatts of electricity and would employ 100 full time workers upon completion around 2013.

The facility would use solar thermal applications, which have been an increasingly important source of energy in countries like Spain. With that technology, a large number of mirrors concentrate sunlight onto tubes of fluid that run turbines when heated.

The report also notes that another company, Abengoa Solar, is in the middle of its own plan to construct a 250 megawatt solar thermal plant in the state.

Solar energy supporters have long pointed to Arizona's considerable annual sunshine as a reason to develop its resources further. One useful solar energy resource the state has to offer potential companies is a nationally known solar power laboratory.