Feds Put Solar Energy Projects on Fast Track

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/07/01/doi-announces-fast-track-solar-ene\
rgy-projects/


Pushing for rapid development of renewable energy on U.S. public lands,
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) have
announced an initiative that will "fast-track" solar energy projects on
Interior-managed lands that have significant solar energy potential with limited
impact on wildlife, other natural resources or land users. Nearly 500 renewable
energy projects have applied for permits.

Federal agencies are expected to work with western leaders to designate tracts
of U.S. public lands in the West as prime zones for utility-scale solar energy
development. Other initiatives include funding environmental studies, opening
new solar energy permitting offices and speeding up reviews of industry
proposals.

Environmental advocacy groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC) have worked with the government to balance regional environmental
concerns on land conservation with a federal goal of expanding renewable energy
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports the Wall Street Journal (via Dow
Jones).

Serena Ingre, an NRDC spokeswoman, said in the article, that establishing solar
energy zones would expedite the permitting and environmental assessment
processes, describing low-conflict areas of natural resources that aren't
located in proximity to wilderness areas or threatened species.

Secretary Salazar said the two dozen areas currently under evaluation could
generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity. "With coordinated
environmental studies, good land-use planning and zoning and priority
processing, we can accelerate responsible solar energy production that will help
build a clean-energy economy for the 21st century," he stated.

Many solar projects have been blocked at the local level, putting at risk the
Obama administration's plan to double renewable energy production by 2012,
reports the Wall Street Journal, which cites as an example Senator Dianne
Feinstein's (D-Calif.) fight against the construction of a solar project on
600,000 acres of federal land between the Mojave desert preserve and the Joshua
Tree National Park.

Under one initiative, 24 tracts of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administered
land located in six western states (Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New
Mexico and Utah), known as Solar Energy Study Areas, would be evaluated for
their environmental and resource suitability for large-scale solar energy
production. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), those areas
selected would be available for projects capable of producing 10 or more
megawatts of electricity for distribution to customers through the transmission
grid system. The evaluation will not be completed until 2010.

In addition, companies that propose projects on that scale in areas already
approved for this type of development would be eligible for priority processing.
The BLM may also decide to use alternative competitive or non-competitive
procedures in processing new solar applications for these areas, according to
the DOI.

A new Interior renewable energy coordination office (RECO) was opened in Nevada,
the first of four, with the others to be located in Arizona, California, and
Wyoming. The offices will help to expedite processing of the increased number of
applications for renewable energy projects on U.S. lands.

So far BLM has received about 470 renewable energy project applications, which
include 158 active solar applications, covering 1.8 million acres, with a
projected capacity to generate 97,000 megawatts of electricity. Interior also
is coordinating with states to expedite permitting for a number of solar power
projects nearing approval including two major NextLight Silver State projects,
that combined deliver a capacity of more than 400 megawatts of electricity.

BLM hasn't issued any land-use permits for solar power plants and only two solar
power plants are moving to BLM's final review stage, reports the Wall Street
Journal. Those cited in the article include Stirling Energy Systems' request to
use 7,000 acres in Imperial County, Calif., for a 750 MW solar-power plant; and
BrightSource Energy Inc.'s request to build a 400 MW solar-power plant on 6,720
acres of public land in Kern County, Calif.