Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has entered into an agreement to purchase the output from a 177-megawat solar thermal power project being development by Ausra Inc.

The San Luis Obispo County, Calif., solar power plant will begin generating power in 2010. It will require 1 square mile of land and will use Compact Linear Fresnel Technology to generate heat from the sun and create steam to power turbines.

The agreement gives PG&E 553 megawatts of solar thermal power under contract. The San Francisco-based utility supplies 12 percent of its energy from renewable resources, ahead of schedule to meet the state’s mandate to reach 20 percent by 2010, said Fong Wan, vice president of energy procurement for PG&E.

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