Solar power plant plans move ahead in California

August 13, 2010 8:31 AM PDT

by Martin LaMonica

After a long drought, large-scale solar power is getting closer to returning to the U.S. desert.

The California Public Utilities Commission on Thursday gave the green light to power purchase agreements which two utilities have with solar power project developers, a key step toward beginning actual construction.

The approvals in California follow a flurry of activity at the Bureau of Land Management, which created a fast-track review process for solar projects on federal land. Both agencies' reviews are required for permitting the projects which, if finalized and financed, would result in a dramatic increase in solar power on the California grid.

On Friday, the BLM issued its final environmental impact statement for the Chevron Energy Solutions Lucerne Valley Solar Project in the California desert, a necessary step before final permitting approval. That project would bring 1,000 megawatts of generating capacity online in California, enough to supply hundreds of thousands of homes.

BrightSource heliostats use sunlight to make heat, which creates steam to drive a turbine. Click on image for a photo gallery of large-scale solar technologies.

(Credit: Eilon Paz Studio EPP) Earlier this week, the BLM issued final environmental impact studies for two other large projects proposed for public lands in California--the Ivanpa Solar project developed by BrightSource Energy and Calico Solar project developed by Tessera Solar.

In all, there are nine projects in California in the fast-track program which, if completed, would bring over 4,500 megawatts worth of generating capacity onto the grid, according to a tally compiled by Environment & Energy News. The nine projects would cover more than 41,000 acres of BLM land and provide enough power for 3.8 million homes, according to federal estimates.

Demand for these large-scale desert solar projects is driven by a California mandate that requires utilities to get 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by the end of the year.

The technologies behind these projects vary. The 392-megawatt Ivanpah project, which technology provider BrightSource Energy expects to start construction on this fall, uses a field of mirrors focused on a tower which heats a liquid to make steam that drives a turbine.

The Calico Solar project in California's San Bernardino County feature giant parabolic dishes which use the sun's heat to drive an attached Stirling engine to generate electricity. Meanwhile, other project developers plan to use arrays of flat photovoltaic panels which can be quicker to deploy than solar thermal systems.

But even though these large solar projects promise a jump in clean energy on the grid, they have faced opposition over the potential environmental impact and water use. BrightSource, for example, scaled back its original project plan for the Ivanpah project to reduce the impact on habitat for endangered tortoises. Tessera Solar plans to use waste water to wash solar panels, according to Environment & Energy News.

Financing for these projects, which can cost hundreds of millions or billions of dollars to construct, is not assured. Banks are wary of putting money into relatively new technology, such as some solar thermal systems.

At the same time, project developers are rushing to finalize permitting before the end of this year because there's a risk that federal tax grant for renewable energy projects will not be renewed next year.

. Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld.

Topics:Solar, Deals and investments.Tags:big solar,CSP,utilities,solar thermal.

Recent posts from Green Tech
Advanced biofuels maker Gevo files to go public
Is this the burger joint of the future?
Solar power plant plans move ahead in California
LED bulb for general lighting priced below $20
Ford microgrid to combine solar with EV charging
China clean tech's rare-earth advantage
Track Russian forest fire data online
Algae fuel maker PetroAlgae files to go publicRelated
Solar thermal seeks U.S. breakthrough
Nevada, Sicily to find staying power in molten salt
Bangkok adding solar to grid
Solar structures offer self-sufficiency in disaster
Concentrated solar to get big Colorado spread
San Diego schools to be over 10 percent solar
REN21: More than half of new power in U.S., EU is green
Applied Materials exits turnkey thin-film solar, cuts jobs

.by Shane39199 August 13, 2010 8:46 AM PDT
this is awesome. gives every state two large scale solar farms and see how far it takes the nation
Like this Reply to this comment .by myles taylor August 13, 2010 9:15 AM PDT

The state of Arizona gets enough solar energy to power the entire country even if we just capture a small percentage of it. We need to start dipping into this great resource that actually powers the planet. Using solar panels just isn't efficient enough and littering the desert with these plants is how we'll free up dependency on foreign oil. Supply electricity with power plans that use renewable energy, and then switch to electric cars. The main problem with electric cars right now is that the electricity still comes from burning fossil fuels.

I know my thoughts on here are probably overly simplistic, but I think we really need to get some backing on this.
Like this Reply to this comment .by js555554 August 13, 2010 10:43 AM PDT

The main issue with electric cars is range. Which equates back to charging requirements. We see wonderful claims coming from electric car companies as to distance that can be traveled between charges. Tesla says they and do 200+ . Others are maybe more reasonable posting ranges of 80 to 120+. But none of them tell you how they came up with there numbers. Measuring max distance between charges using a tread mill with no load on the car except for turning the wheels is always going to look a lot better than a family of four traveling in on a cold Wisconsin winter day with windshield defroster and head lights on. So with even the best current technology, we are going to need a lot of charging time for our clean electric cars. Since a solar plant can only function during cloudless day light hours. Which granted is most days in the desert. We are going to still need to burn a lot of something to keeps all these electric cars, home heating and such, humming.
Like this .by mikedrud August 13, 2010 9:16 AM PDT
I agree that this is great, but I'm conflicted: "Chevron Energy Solutions Lucerne Valley Solar Project" on public land? Nice to know the oil companies are getting yet another chunk of us.

Then again, we don't have much choice. We need energy alternatives NOW.
Like this Reply to this comment .by wabcd August 14, 2010 8:20 AM PDT

This is not an Energy Alternative. This is an expensive SCAM that will increase our dependence on Fossil Fuels. That's why Big Oil is investing in and promoting these Renewable Energy projects.
Like this .by yak2roger August 13, 2010 9:43 AM PDT

This is another example of a GIANT WHITE ELEPHANT.
If it is so economical, let them build it on their own, without
government subsidies. Once you take away the taxpayer money
the whole project collapses.

And I still would't sell out the enviornmentalists who SOMEHOW manage to stop every project that ACTUALLY DOES save us from foreign oil. Somehow, someway, they find a moth, a turtle, SOMETHING that will be endangered so that they can go to court to stop what they have been preaching to the rest of us for years.
Just like they are stopping Nuclear, while the rest of the world uses it VERY safely.
Yukka Mountain wasn't good enough for them because it only preserved the waste for TEN THOUSAND YEARS. Not good enough!
Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
.
by Dumbpeni August 13, 2010 10:43 AM PDT
The federal tax grant for renewable energy projects can only be justified as long as fossil fuel prices stay stable for the long run. The economy is actually choking on high energy (fossil) prices. I cant stress more on how critical it is to have affordable energy prices and to keep energy conservation efforts in force to keep energy costs down. It is very important to remember this..
Like this Reply to this comment .by ecotony August 13, 2010 11:53 AM PDT
Big plants are okay, but we need to move from this model and go to distributed power generation. Each roof top should be made a power plant for that building, with the local utility providing the power at night / poor generation situations.
In Germany, they have subsidized solar to the point that they don't need to build new power plants and are able to take the worst polluting plants off line.
In San Diego, they want to build a power line through a few state and national parks to bring more power into the city. For the billions they want to spend on the project, they could pay for everyone to have a solar panel on their roof and we would have more power, for less cost and it would be clean. However, this would go against the local utility's desire to make more money, so it won't happen.
Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
.
by HeavyJim August 13, 2010 4:19 PM PDT
Germany is not building new coal fired power plants? News to the Germans, 26 new plants are scheduled for the next few years.
Like this 1 person likes this comment
.
by negative_ned August 13, 2010 1:41 PM PDT
"The nine projects would cover more than 41,000 acres of BLM land"

Nice
Like this Reply to this comment .by wabcd August 14, 2010 8:32 AM PDT
If you are REALLY interested in the TRUTH about these Concentrated Solar Thermal Power plants and the effectiveness of Renewable Energy as a replacement for Fossil Fuels - read the Analysis here:

http://bravenewclimate.com/2010/08/12/zca2020-critique/

This critique pretty much Rips to Shreds a High Profile Plan to power Australia - the best location on Earth - with Solar Thermal Power plus Wind Energy. And if it won't work there, it sure as hell won't work here.

"....Our revised cost estimate is nearly five times higher than the estimate in the Plan: $1,709 billion compared to $370 billion. The cost estimates are highly uncertain with a range of $855 billion to $4,191 billion for our estimate...."

To use clean, green Nuclear Power instead, would cost about $120 billion