 | 1/16/2014 | California greenlights 485 MW PV project |
The California Energy Commission on Wednesday approved NextEra Energy's plan to use photovoltaic technology rather than the previously approved solar parabolic trough system for its planned 484 MW Blythe Solar Power Project.
NextEra, which took over the project in April 2013, filed a revised amendment with the commission to reduce the original project's planned physical size and generation capacity.
The company is set to build the facility on 4,070 acres () of public land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in four phases, with the first three consisting of 125 MW and the fourth generating 110 MW. The site is located some 13 kilometers west of the city of Blythe in eastern Riverside County.
The original project owner, a subsidiary of Solar Millennium, had filed an amendment with the commission in June 2012 to switch to solar PV, which led to a commission review of the plans.
"The project will spur California's transition to renewable energy and help advance its aggressive climate change goals," said Commissioner Karen Douglas, who is the presiding member of the committee reviewing the Blythe Solar Power Project amendment.
The committee found that the project benefits -- including its contribution to meeting California's Renewables Portfolio Standard, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, creating nearly 500 peak construction jobs and boosting the economy – outweighed a number of environmental impacts that it said were "cumulatively significant when considered along with the impacts of other projects in the region."
Among the committee’s concerns were impacts to biological resources, cultural resources, land use and visual resources.
Budgeted at $1.13 billion, construction of the project is expected to last 48 months and employ an average of 341 workers (and a peak of 499) during construction.
The commission originally approved the project, initially planned as a 1 GW plant, in 2010.
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| 12/17/2013 | California recommends approval of Blythe solar PV project, denial of Palen solar CSP project |
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released proposed decisions on conversion plans for both the 485 MW Blythe solar photovoltaic (PV) project and the 500 MW Palen concentrating solar power (CSP) project.
The agency recommends approval of the most recent plans for the Blythe PV project. However, CEC calls for denial of the proposal to convert the Palen CSP project to a solar power tower design, based on unmitigable impacts to cultural, visual and biological resources.
CEC has released both recommended decisions for 30 days of public comment, and the full set of commissioners will made a decision on both projects in early 2014.
Bird deaths a concern for Palen project
CEC initially approved the Palen CSP project in 2010 as a parabolic trough CSP plant. However, BrightSource Energy Inc. (Oakland, California, U.S.) purchased the plant in 2012, and has since decided to convert it to a solar power tower design, which requires CEC approval.
The new proposal calls for two, 230 meter solar towers and 170,000 heliostats. However, one of the major concerns over the Palen project voiced by the CEC is “significant and unmitigable impacts to biological resources due to the risk of solar flux on avian species.”
This is not the first time that the agency has expressed such concerns. CEC has shown an increasing concern over bird deaths from the concentrated sunlight focused from the heliostats on the towers at BrightSource's nearby Ivanpah project, which is nearly complete.
Benefits outweigh impacts for Blythe project
The Blythe project was also approved in 2010 as a parabolic trough CSP plant. Previous owner Solar Millennium AG had planned to change the plant to PV technology, and NextEra Energy Resources LLC (Juno Beach, Florida, U.S.) further changed the plans to reduce the plant from 1,000 MW to 485 MW.
This change also requires CEC approval. While this latest CEC assessment has found some environmental impacts that are cumulatively significant when considered with other projects in the region, it also found that project benefits justify an override of those impacts.
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| 10/15/2013 | CEC review of Blythe PV projects finds “significant” impacts |
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released its full staff analysis of the proposed Blythe solar photovoltaic (PV) project in Southern California, which finds that it would have “significant” cumulative impacts in several areas, even with mitigation measures.
While not itself a decision, this assessment will inform the CEC's final determination on the 485 MW project, and the Commission will have to adopt override findings to approve the project. The project would be built on 16 square kilometers of public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
In particular, the project is found to contribute to incremental loss of desert tortoise habitat and impact cultural resources. However, while these and other significant impacts were found, the project was found to comply with existing laws, rules and regulations in all areas except land use.
The CEC staff assessment was published in two parts, with the first on September 23rd, 2013 and the second on October 11th, 2013.
Changes in CEC, BLM approval processes
The CEC approved an earlier, larger version of the project using concentrating solar power (CSP) technology in September 2010. However, NextEra Energy (Juno Beach, California, U.S.) changed the project to PV technology in April 2013 after purchasing it, which required a new CEC approval process.
The CEC and BLM approved a number of large CSP projects in 2010, however a number of these faced lawsuits from Native American and environmental groups over a range of issues including the need to protect archaeological sites and desert tortoise habitat.
Additionally, CEC staff look at cumulative impacts, meaning that they considers the impacts of other projects built in a given area. As a result, fewer large CSP and PV projects have been approved by the CEC and BLM in recent years.
It is also worth noting that the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the BLM, has created special zones for the development of solar and other renewable energy projects to speed development and avoid such conflicts.
Project to be developed in four phases
Were the project approved, construction would last 48 months. The project would be developed in three 125 MW phases and one 110 MW phase. Estimated capital cost of the project is USD 1.13 billion.
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| 4/22/2013 | Owners seek to downsize Blythe solar project |
The new owners of the 1 GW Blythe Solar Energy Project in Riverside County, California, want to downsize the scheme to 485 MW.
Original developers Palo Verde Solar I, a subsidiary of German company Solar Millennium AG, had planned a 1 GW CSP project, later modified to include some photovoltaics.
NextEra Energy Resources acquired the project after Solar Millennium filed for insolvency and applied to change the scheme to fully photovoltaic in June 2012.
The owner, via its NextEra Blythe Solar Energy Center subsidiary, has now amended the photovoltaic-only request to downsize the project capacity.
The original plans were for a 1 GW project built in eight 125 MW stages, with construction due to start this month.
Next Era has proposed starting construction on the first of three 125 MW phases in June 2014 with a final, 110 MW, phase finished by June 2018.
The owners indicated in their change of scale petition to the California Energy Commission that they have yet to decide whether to use Yingli YGE 300 Series multicrystalline modules or First Solar FS Series 3 thin film units.
In the paperwork NextEra says its submitted plans will have less visual impact than the original CSP scheme because there is no need for four power blocks and associated 120-foot cooling towers or for 24-foot tall trough mirrors.
The owners also claim their revised scheme has less impact on air quality; worker safety; hazardous materials disposal; waste management; soil, land and water use; traffic and transportation; and noise and vibration issues as well as bringing more socio-economic benefits and having less impact on biological resources – good news for any American badgers, desert kit foxes and desert tortoises in the vicinity.
NextEra also says their revised project will have a shorter construction time and fewer greenhouse gas emissions and will provide up to 619 jobs for Riverside County in the peak construction period.
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| 4/19/2013 | First Solar and Yingli Green billed as suppliers to NextEra’s downsized Blythe solar farm |
NextEra Energy’s 1GW plans for the Blythe solar farm in California, once expected to be the world’s largest solar energy power plant, have been cut in half to make the project viable.
Documents submitted to the California Energy Commission as part of the revised permitting procedures reveale that the project is now being planned as a 485MW plant, using modules from First Solar and/or Yingli Green. NextEra Energy has worked with First Solar on other projects.
The revised project proposals indicated the power plant would be built in three phases of roughly 125MW per phase, while a smaller fourth phase would equate to around 110MW. However, subject to approval, the first phase construction could start in June 2014 and take four years to complete.
NextEra Energy originally acquired the 1GW planned project from bankrupt Solar Trust of America, a subsidiary of Solar Millennium AG, which filed for insolvency in December, 2011. Solar Millennium had planned to employ its CSP technology. NextEra Energy had previously said it would change the deployment of technology to PV.
The documents also highlight that NextEra Energy had pre-selected First Solar’s recently launched Series 3 CdTe thin-film modules as well as Yingli Green’s YGE-U 72 Cell based 300W modules, specifically designed for large-scale utility projects, only announced last year at Solar Power International 2012.
Both fixed tilt and single axis tracker mounting systems could be employed. The revised project is estimated to cost in excess of US$1.0 billion.
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