Solar power companies are hustling to get their permits approved for right-of-way on public lands in Nye County so they can break ground by the end of this year and be eligible for incentives under the economic stimulus package.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently announced two companies -- Solar Millenium and Solar Reserve -- are among 31 projects nationwide identified for a fast track in the permitting process.
Solar Millenium published a notice of intent to build two 250-megawatt concentrated solar plants in Amargosa Valley July 13. Solar Reserve published its intent to build a 100- to 180-megawatt facility at Crescent Dunes, about 13 miles northwest of Tonopah, on Nov. 24.
Solar Reserve announced last month it signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with NV Energy to sell the utility power from Crescent Dunes. BLM Renewable Energy Project Manager Greg Helseth said that was an aggressive move, since it will set a deadline by which the company is required to provide power.
Before that, Solar Millenium announced it signed an agreement to negotiate with NV Energy.
A press release by the BLM said the 31 renewable energy projects have met the required milestones to remain on the fast track list for expedited processing. Otherwise it can take two years or longer to get BLM approval for a right-of-way application.
Solar Millenium held public hearings in Amargosa Valley, Pahrump and Las Vegas last July. Solar Reserve held public hearings in Tonopah and Las Vegas in December.
"These projects are advanced enough in the permitting process that they could potentially be cleared for approval by December 2010, thus making them eligible for economic stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," the BLM said in a prepared statement.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar asked the BLM to establish a network of renewable energy coordination offices from various specialties to assist in processing applications quicker.
Kevin Smith, Solar Reserve chief executive officer, said being on the permitting fast track is very important for their project, along with clearing all the hurdles with the Air Force.
Solar energy projects will receive a 30 percent investment tax credit through 2016. But Smith said, "In order to utilize those tax credits, you need to bring tax investors into the project. In this current environment, that's become difficult for solar and wind investments."
But if developers can get their projects started by the end of this year, a portion of that tax credit is provided by the government as a grant, Smith said.
In addition, the DOE has a loan guarantee program that expires in 2011 for new technology, he said.
Solar Reserve proposes to use 17,350 mirrors, called heliostats, to focus solar energy on a tower almost 600 feet tall, heating molten salt, in a proprietary system that could provide power to 75,000 homes.
Solar Millenium announced last fall it would switch to a dry cooling method to cool its turbines to reduce water usage by 90 percent, a decision that was widely applauded by environmental groups.
Its project will consist of a solar field of parabolic trough mirrors, a central power block housing a steam turbine, cooling equipment and thermal energy storage tanks. Solar Millenium estimates the facility could provide energy to 130,000 Nevada households.
Both companies say they will use technology that will allow them to store power after the sun sets.
"We can focus it on the peak hours. We can run it when NV Energy wants us to run," Smith said.
He said there's some leeway on the timeline in the power purchase agreement.
"There's some margins that are built into power contracts if there are some extended periods for delays or permitting. We've executed the contract. We have to provide some guarantees to NV Energy we're going to build the project. We're committed and confident we're going to get it done," Smith said.
Helseth said companies that are trying to break ground this year hope to have their BLM right-of-way permits by the end of August or early September, to have enough time to get a permit from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada under the Utility Environmental Protection Act. Both companies already submitted UEPA applications, but the PUC won't review them until the environmental impact statement is completed.
Helseth said Solar Millenium is neck and neck with Next Light as the front runners to put in the first major solar projects in southern Nevada. Two projects, Silver State South and Silver State North, providing 267 megawatts and 140 megawatts of power, are planned by Next Light for Primm.
Just across the state line near Interstate 15 in California, environmentalists are asking for the relocation of a 400-megawatt plant planned by Bright Source in Ivanpah near the golf course next to Primm, due to the presence of endangered desert tortoises. Helseth said that company has to complete an EIS for California as well.
Helseth expects the administrative draft EIS on the Solar Millenium project to be completed this month. The public version of the draft EIS should come out next month, he said. That would be followed by a 45-day comment period, with a final EIS expected probably in July.
The publication of the final EIS will be followed by another 30-day comment period. If the BLM decision is favorable, a right-of-way permit can be issued right after the record of decision following those 30 days, Helseth said.
Solar Reserve expects to have its draft EIS ready by June and the final EIS by October.
Last June, the Interior Secretary announced the designation of 24 solar energy zones where the BLM would prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement to facilitate any projects in those areas. Cogentrix, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs applied for a right-of-way for 32,699 acres in a Nye County solar energy zone near the U.S. Ecology site in western Amargosa Valley, but Helseth said the company has yet to start the permitting process.
Nye County commissioners last month offered another possibility to three solar power companies: bypassing the BLM permitting process entirely.
They signed options to lease over 1,075 acres of land at Tonopah Airport with Cogentrix, Indeck Energy Services and Aurora Solar. The one-year options, to lease land with the possibility to renew for another two years, will generate $67,500 per year for Nye County. In exchange, the county will hold those parcels open for development while the companies line up access agreements, complete interconnection studies and sign power purchase agreements.
No comments:
Post a Comment