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Fri, Jul 10, 2009 (3 a.m.)
Sun Archives
- NV Energy inks solar deal (6-26-2009)
- State thinks big on solar power (6-15-2009)
- NV Energy to buy power from Searchlight solar plant (6-11-2009)
- NV Energy stands to gain from late add in bill (5-17-2009)
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Beyond the Sun
The day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a federal initiative to open up federal land in the West to renewable energy development, NV Energy filed its three-year integrated resources plan that places emphasis on renewable energy and conservation instead of traditional energy sources.
The plan is the company’s 20-year estimates for growth and peak demand, as well as how to meet that demand. The document for the Public Utilities Commission is updated every three years to take into account economic and policy changes, NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira said.
By 2025 NV Energy is required by law to have 25 percent of its energy portfolio derived from renewable energy sources, such as wind, geothermal and solar. An earlier law required the utility to generate 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2015.
Geothermal is the cheapest renewable energy, while solar is the most expensive, Yackira said.
The Interior Department has set aside seven solar zones on 150,000 acres in Nevada to be studied for their potential to house solar arrays. Seventeen other zones will be studied in California, Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. A total of 670,000 acres will be evaluated.
Last year, the utility hit 9 percent, meeting its mark. But a quarter of that came from its conservation programs, which is allowed by the state law.
“Conservation is becoming more of a buzzword,” Yackira said. “The cleanest kilowatt is one that is not produced.”
Upcoming is One Nevada Line, a 500 kilovolt transmission line to run north-south in the state. The company expects the line to be running by the end of 2012.
It would allow the state to use wind and geothermal energy collected in the north in Southern Nevada during summer months, while using excess solar energy from the south in Northern Nevada during the winter months.
NV Energy also wants to buy power from two solar projects and invest in the proposed China Mountain wind project, 40 miles southwest of Twin Falls, Idaho, and Solar Millennium’s Amargosa Valley solar project, with construction expected to start next year. The company also plans three utility-scale solar photovoltaic plants in Southern Nevada that are expected to create 15.5 megawatts of energy.
Solar holding facilities, which would provide solar energy when it is cloudy or dark, are also on the drawing board. Yackira said NV Energy intends to either invest in those plants or purchase energy from them.
On the conservation side, the company has so far reimbursed $8 million toward the installation of 400 home and business solar photovoltaic units through its SolarGenerations rebate program, Yackira said. Those units generate about two kilowatts per day each, about half the energy needs of an average home.
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Unleash the solar millenium, that's the way to go ...
I applaud all the involved people ... A BIG THANK YOU, for doing the right thing!!!!!
Here we go again!!!
Solar Millenium's proposal will require 3,000 acre feet of water from the over-used aquifer in Amargosa Valley.They SAY that they have all the water secured from the alfalfa farmers who want to sell their water rights, but if you talk to one of those farmers you will get a much different story. About thirty percent of agricultural water use goes back into the aquifer. If that water is used for wet cooled solar, none will go back. This is the same water that keeps the habitat in check for the Devil's Hole Pupfish, Ash Meadows and the people who live in the area. The 32,000 acre solar sacrifice zone in Amargosa Valley is just BLM's attempt to speed up development of the requests of three dozen energy developers to build the same kind of solar developments which would require tens of thousands of acre feet. This will never happen due to the lack of water, but it sounds as though the future of the Amargosa River has now been put on the chopping block by BLM and the new green economy. This water is mostly fossil water from a much wetter, cooler time. How ironic that they are trying to use a non renewable resource to try to scam us with the concept of renewable energy.
And why don't those photovoltaics go on the roof? Could it be ecause Nevada Energy wants us to buy it all from them? Hmmmmm.....