Interior downsizes California solar farm

OREANDA-NEWS. June 15, 2015. The US Department of Interior has asked developers of California's Soda Mountain solar project to reduce their capacity target to 264MW, down from 358MW, in an effort to cut environmental impacts.

The agency's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recommended that the Soda Mountain project's footprint be reduced to just 1,921 acres of federal land from 2,557 acres, resulting in the lowered overall capacity of 264MW. The reduction in land is needed to address impacts on surrounding vegetation, bighorn sheep, scenic view and groundwater requirements during construction, BLM said in a final environmental impact statement on 5 June.

The footprint of the project, located in the Mojave Desert outside of Baker, California, has been downsized before by BLM since it was proposed by Bechtel in 2008. BLM called for the project to be cut to 4,179 acres from 9,55 acres in 2008, citing improvements to drainage systems and wildlife preservation in the area.

The reduction in Soda Mountain's capacity should not have a significant affect on California's solar sector in the coming years, which is likely to get a boost from a more aggressive state renewable energy mandate. The stated Senate last week approved SB 350, which would raise the state's renewable portfolio standard to 50pc by 2030 from 33pc by 2020. The Assembly has not voted on the bill.

As it stands, the state is poised to add over 11,200MW of solar capacity by 2020, according to data released by the California Independent System Operator yesterday.

BLM is reviewing three other solar projects on federal lands in California, including the 300MW Desert Quartzite facility by First Solar, 500MW Palen solar plant by BrightSource Energy and 485MW Blythe Mesa solar project by Los Angeles-based Renewable Resources Group.