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250MW California solar plant looks set for green light

The Genesis project will have "significant" impacts on the local environment, but the Commission siting committee said benefits will override those impacts

Plans for a huge solar power plant in California’s Sonoran Desert look set for a green light from the California Energy Commission.

The Commission’s siting committee has recommended approval for the Genesis Solar Energy Project, a 250MW proposal for Riverside County.

The recommendation, which is now subject to a 30-day public comment period before a final decision is made, does note that the project will have “significant impacts” on the local environment.

However, it suggests the benefits of the project would outweigh the impacts.

The recommendation from the committee’s presiding member, James Boyd, stated: “Although the project, even with the mitigation measures described in this Decision, will have remaining significant impacts on the environment, the Commission has found that the benefits that the project will provide override those impacts.”

Project

Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources is the developer behind the Genesis project, which would take the form of two 125MW concentrated solar power plants using fields of parabolic mirrors to collect energy from the sun, focusing it on two central towers to provide heat to drive a steam turbine generator.

The project is proposed for a 1,800-acre site 25 miles west of Blythe, about four miles north of Interstate 10, on lands managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The Commission said in a statement that the committee had determined that the project complies with “all applicable laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards”.

If approved, the project could start construction in the final quarter of 2010, for commercial operations to begin in the second quarter of 2013.

The Commission recommendation to approve the Genesis project comes following recommendations for approvals for four other large solar power projects in California.

These include intentions to green light the 250MW Abengoa Mojave Solar Project, the 250 MW Beacon Solar Energy Project, the 1,000 MW Blythe Solar Power Project, and the 370 MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System Project.