Energy Department finalizes three loan guarantees totaling $623.9 million

The Department of Energy finalized three loan guarantees on Friday totaling up to $623.9 million.

The announcement comes just weeks after Solyndra — a California-based solar company that received a $535 million loan guarantee — filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 workers, igniting a firestorm in Washington over the administration’s efforts to finance clean-energy projects.

The Obama White House is working to finalize about a dozen loan guarantees as part of a program funded under the 2009 stimulus law that is set to expire at the end of the month. The loan guarantees are for advanced energy projects such as wind, solar and biofuels.

House Republicans have raised concerns that the administration is moving too quickly to finalize the remaining loan guarantees, citing a series of emails that they say show the administration had rushed the approval of the Solyndra loan.

But the administration insists it subjects every project to detailed analysis and that it did not rush review of the Solyndra loan guarantee application.

The White House has said it remains committed to investing in clean-energy projects, an effort that administration officials say will boost the economy and create “green jobs.”

The Energy Department finalized on Friday a $168.9 million partial loan guarantee to Granite Reliable Power for a wind project in New Hampshire; a partial loan guarantee of up to $350 million to Ormat Nevada, Inc. for a geothermal power project in the state; and a $105 million loan guarantee to POET for a cellulosic ethanol plant in Iowa.

None of the three loan guarantees are for solar projects.