SOLAR POWER SITE-SNAG

BLM fast track: CSP siting highway hits bumps in the road
Bob Moser, 8 April 2011 (CSP Today)

"The US Bureau of Land Management is intent on opening up public land and clearing the way for renewable energy development. But public pressure groups are digging in their heels…With a list of 19 priority projects published in March, the [BLM] has opened federal land to renewable power developers at a brisk pace. But with some projects being slowed by litigation, developers still have cause to weigh whether public or private land is the smarter route…

"Developing solar and wind resources on federal land will be key, Brady says, to meeting the goals US Congress has set for added renewable capacity – 10 MW by 2015 on public lands – as well as renewable portfolio standards now in place for most western states…Of the 19 priority projects…nine are solar…four of those are CSP…[T]he BLM [offerings fit] the large-scale acreage needs for CSP [of about 8 acres per megawatt], says Brett Prior, senior analyst at GTM Research, the market research arm of GreenTech Media…"

A solar power tower installation (click to enlarge)

"While no additional projects will make the priority list in 2011, there are several projects that the BLM's energy policy team is currently to working on, some of which will begin the NEPA process this year. Those won't reach completion until 2012, at the earliest…For 2012, there are currently 25 renewable energy projects in the fast-track pipeline…[ expected to] begin the process in 2011…

"The environmental review process typically takes two years to complete, so companies that begin in 2011…[hope to finish] in 2012…Of those 25 in line for 2012, about half are solar and half wind, with a small number of geothermal. [BLM’s draft solar programmatic EIS is currently in the public review. Once available, it will assist interested developers in identifying the best available sites for solar projects on public land]…"

click to enlarge

"…[O]nly one federal land solar project…[t]he 709 MW Imperial Valley Solar project, formerly known as SES Solar Two, had an injunction issued against further construction in 2010…[A]Native American group filed suit against it. Solar company Tessera recently sold the project to AES Solar…While some other renewable energy projects that BLM has been involved with do have litigation pending, no other injunctions have been granted. Those projects have moved ahead…with some already starting construction…

"One example of injunction efforts failing is the 150-megawatt Spring Valley wind project…It had been on the BLM's fast track list, but environmentalists asked to stop the project in the name of protecting local bat populations. A judge recently denied the injunction request, and while litigation can continue, so can progress on the project…"