As One Solar Thermal Project Dies, Another is Born

As shown in the updated GTM Research U.S. CSP (Concentrating Solar Power) project tracker, there have been some changes afoot in the utility-scale solar thermal pipeline.

On a sour note, on January 25th, Solar Millennium withdrew its application for the 250 MW Ridgecrest project.  For the full details, see page 2 of the filing with the California Energy Commission. The letter states that "a review of the record strongly suggests the California agency's staff is unlikely to be open to a recommendation of approval." It continues: "The DRECP (Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan) has identified Ridgecrest as a site to protect from development." Effectively, they don't think it will be approved because the DRECP opposed it. 

What is the DRECP? Glad you asked. The Governator himself ordered the development of the DRECP "for the Mojave and Colorado deserts that would, when complete, provide binding, long-term endangered species permit assurances and facilitate renewable energy project review and approval processes."  Basically if the DRECP doesn't like your project site, it's time to find a new project site.

But on the bright side, this Monday, SolarReserve announced that its Crossroads project had received its final Certificates of Environmental Compatibility (CEC)  from the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC).

To get a more complete picture of the state of the U.S. and global CSP markets, readers should plan to tune in to the upcoming GTM Research CSP webinar on Tuesday, February 15 at 1 pm EST.  The webinar will cover the major findings from the recently published CSP 2011 report -- including current LCOE by technology, project pipelines by country, and market share data for all of the major developers, suppliers, and electricity purchasers. It will also cover the latest developments in the U.S, CSP market, including the pipeline for Solar Millennium, and SolarReserve.

While the progress on the Crossroads project is promising, SolarReserve is still waiting on its PPA and Maricopa County Special Use Permit, which they hope to receive by the end of 2011 (so they can break ground in 2012 for completion in 2014).

Full details for the Crossroads project follow below.