Plans for solar plant clear hurdle

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, July 9, 2003 | 9 a.m.

A sea of crescent-shaped mirrors could cover hundreds of acres in Boulder City's Eldorado Valley in less than two years if plans for a solar power plant come to fruition.

Officials for the city and Solargenix, the company proposing the plant, said Tuesday the plant would be the first major solar power facility built in the world in 11 years.

But even though city leaders have been talking about having a solar power plant in the valley for years, a deal isn't certain for the proposed facility, which would use mirrors to capture the sun's heat to create turbine-turning steam, officials said.

The terms of a lease for the city property still have to be finalized, and the City Council on Tuesday took steps that could clear the way for them to lease the 350 acres Solargenix wants for less than the appraised value.

The City Charter prohibits the council from charging less than the appraised value on land leases unless the city Planning Commission decides the lease would benefit the community, City Attorney Dave Olsen said. The council voted 5-0 Tuesday to have the Planning Commission determine whether the proposed plant would be a benefit to the community.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to review the proposed solar plant July 16, and Sullard said the council may be asked to vote on a lease in August. Leases for large parcels of city land, such as this would be for, must be approved by four of the five council members instead of a simple majority.

The 350 acres Solargenix wants were recently appraised at $35,000 an acre, City Manager John Sullard said. But Sullard and Gary Bailey, Solargenix's Western area manager, said a new appraisal should show the land is worth far less because the appraiser did not take into account the property's land use restrictions. The city property in the Eldorado Valley can be used only for a desert tortoise preserve, public recreation and solar power facilities.

Councilman Roger Tobler said even if the new appraisal states the land is worth less than half of what the first appraisal said, the price could still be higher than Solargenix is offering.

City officials and Bailey would not say how much Solargenix is offering, although Sullard said in May such a lease could be more than $1 million a year.

Bailey said he thinks the new appraisal will give the company a price it can afford.

Olsen said the lease would probably be for 40 years, with options that could extend it to 70 years.

The proposed solar plant would include 300 acres of parabolic mirrors plus 50 acres for buildings and power generation facilities, Bailey said. He estimated the facility would cost more than $120 million to build, while Sullard estimated the project at $147 million.

Bailey said the proposed plant works by using parabolic mirrors to focus heat on a glass tube that is filled with a special liquid that can stand temperatures above 700 degrees. The fluid is then used to create steam, which turns a turbine creating electricity, he said.

"It will look like an ocean of mirrors," Bailey said.

A similar facility has been in operation since the mid-1980s in Kramer Junction, Calif., which is in the Mojave desert, he said.

The Boulder City plant would create 50 megawatts of electricity, or enough for 50,000 homes, Bailey said. Solargenix, which is based in Raleigh, N.C., already has 20-year contracts with Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power for the electricity, he said.

Bailey said the Boulder City plant would be the first solar power plant generating more than 20 megawatts built in the last 11 years worldwide.

Bailey said under a best case scenario plant construction would begin in October and the plant would be generating electricity in March 2005.

Solargenix, which recently split from Duke Energy, likes Boulder City for this project because of its abundance of sunshine, apparent positive attitude toward solar power and ready infrastructure, he said.

"We searched out Boulder City because it has already identified a solar energy zone and it has all the infrastructure such as transmission lines," Bailey said.

The solar plant is proposed to go just east of the natural gas-powered Eldorado Energy plant, which pays $800,000 a year to lease 150 acres, City Finance Director Bob Kenney said.

Sullard said with the Solargenix project, Boulder City could be on its way toward becoming "the solar capital of the world."

After all, he said, it's so sunny in Boulder City that one local tavern offers a free beer to patrons on days the sun doesn't shine at all.

But city officials were cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the Solargenix proposal becoming a reality.

"This is something we've been very interested in for a long time," Councilman Mike Pacini said. "I think it's got a better than average chance. But I don't think anything's a done deal until I see dirt moving."