After months of waiting, the U.S. Department of Interior on Tuesday granted final approval to the first two large-scale solar energy power plants to be built on public lands.
Numerous projects are in line for approval before the end of the year, so that they can break ground before the New Year’s deadline for Recovery Act funding.
The DOI’s Bureau of land management instituted a so-called "fast track" list in April 2009 to move these projects through the permitting process, which has been overwhelmed with applications.
Both of the approved projects are located in California, where state regulators have given final approval to many of the fast-track programs in recent weeks.
The Imperial Valley Solar Project, proposed by Tessera Solar of Texas,
will use Stirling Energy System’s SunCatcher technology on 6,360 acres
of public lands in Imperial County, California. The plant is expected to
produce up to 709 megawatts (MW_ from 28,360 solar dishes, enough to power
212,700 to 531,750 homes.
The Chevron Lucerne Valley Solar Project, proposed by Chevron Energy
Solutions of California, will employ photo-voltaic solar technology on
422 acres of public lands in San Bernardino County, California, and will
produce up to 45 MW from 40,500 solar panels, enough to power
13,500 to 33,750 homes.
"These projects are milestones in our focused effort to rapidly and responsibly capture renewable energy resources on public lands,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in signing the final Records of Decision for the initiatives.
Salazar’s approval grants the U.S.-based companies access to almost 6,800 acres of public lands for 30 years. The projects are expected to generate almost 1,000 new clean energy jobs.
The Recovery Act’s payment in lieu of tax credit program makes Tessera and Chevron eligible for approximately $273 million and $31 million, respectively.
Each project has undergone environmental review, including public scoping, draft environment impact statements (EIS) and final EIS’s.
"There are 11 million acres of public lands in the California Desert, and a large majority of those lands are managed for conservation purposes,” Salazar said. “These projects, while a significant commitment of public land, actually represent less than one-hundredth of one percent of that total area. Given the many benefits, the extensive mitigation measures, and the fair market value economic return, approval of these projects is clearly in the public interest."
Salazar also praised the unprecedented partnership between Interior and the State of California in encouraging renewable energy projects. On October 12, 2009, Secretary Salazar and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an agreement directing Interior agencies and California State agencies to create a unique federal-state initiative to advance development of environmentally appropriate renewable energy on U.S. lands in California. The Imperial Valley Solar Project is one of the projects being jointly processed through the BLM and the California Energy Commission cooperative model.
Read additional coverage at the link below.
Loading...