First seeds of solar energy plan may be planted in Nevada

NextLight Renewable Power bids for permits to build photovoltaic plants

BY JENNIFER ROBISON;

NextLight Renewable Power, a California developer of alternative energy, has applied for permits to build two photovoltaic plants on public lands near Primm. Under a plan federal officials announced Monday in Las Vegas, the projects could be under way sometime by 2010.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar cited NextLight's proposals as the first solar plants poised for fast-tracked construction permits under an initiative that will reserve 670,000 acres of Western public lands for the development of solar power.

As many as 13 plants could be under construction by the end of 2010 in Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico, Salazar said.

The Interior Department would break the 670,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management property into 24 Solar Energy Study Areas, and would expedite solar projects on the parcels. The federal government has already spent $22 million establishing a fast-track environmental-impact study process for projects on the sites, which aren't near national parks or military stations, Salazar said.

"It is time for a new energy frontier, a comprehensive energy plan that encompasses renewable energy," Salazar said. "This is part of a directive from President Barack Obama to do everything we can to put a bull's-eye on the development of solar energy on public lands across America." Maps of the study zones were scheduled to become available June 30 in the Federal Register.

The NextLight projects would provide 407 megawatts of power, compared with the 350 megawatts a mid-sized, coal-fired power plant generates.

James Woodruff, vice president of regulatory and government affairs for NextLight, didn't provide a completion date for the arrays, but he said the company is working to begin construction and bring the plants on line as soon as possible.

"The announcement by Secretary Salazar today represents a welcome commitment by the Bureau of Land Management to moving these projects forward expeditiously," Woodruff said.

Officials of local power utility NV Energy welcomed Monday's announcement, saying the measure could help their company meet the state's renewable-energy mandates. Nevada law requires 25 percent of the state's power to come from renewable resources by 2025, with 6 percent coming from solar energy by 2016. More...