Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

(The Hill) — The Energy Department will announce later Wednesday that is has finalized a $737 million loan guarantee for a Nevada solar project.

The decision comes several weeks after a California-based solar manufacturer that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration in 2009 filed for bankruptcy and laid off 1,100 workers, setting off a firestorm in Washington.

The $737 million loan guarantee will help finance construction of the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project, a 110-megawatt solar power generating facility in Nye County, Nev. The project is sponsored by Tonopah Solar, a subsidiary of California-based SolarReserve.

The decision to finalize the loan guarantee comes just days before the Energy Department’s advanced energy loan-guarantee program, which was funded under the 2009 stimulus law, expires. The department is hoping to make a final decision on about 10 other projects by Sept. 30.

Republicans in Congress have raised concerns that the Energy Department will be forced to rush the final review of the projects because of the tight deadline. But top Energy Department officials say they will not approve any projects without subjecting them to detailed analysis.

The Solyndra controversy has cast a shadow over the Energy Department’s loan-guarantee program, which provides financing for renewable energy, advanced biofuels and electric power transmission projects.