10/6/2009 6:00:00 AM
Hualapai Solar plans progressing
Public gets update on 340-megawatt project near Red Lake
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KINGMAN - Planning for Hualapai Valley Solar, a 340-megawatt solar plant near Red Lake, continues.
Greg Bartlett, project manager for Hualapai Solar, announced Thursday that the plant had submitted an application to the Arizona Corporation Commission in August. Bartlett made the announcement during an open house to gather comments for an environmental impact study to acquire access to transmission lines controlled by the Western Area Power Administration.
The ACC application is only one of several steps to acquire the necessary state and federal permits to build and operate the plant, Bartlett said.
Letter of intent
Bartlett also said the company has signed a letter of intent with the city of Kingman to use reclaimed water from the city's Hilltop Waste Water Treatment plant, once the new plant reaches capacity, in order to feed the solar plant's water needs. The plant is expected to use around 2,275 acre-feet of water a year.
The letter of intent is not a formal contract between Hualapai Solar and the city.
Hualapai Valley Solar plans to build and pay for a pipeline from the wastewater plant to the solar plant, Bartlett said, and is in the process of negotiating for the right-of-way over various properties.
The solar plant expects to use around 1,800 acre-feet of reclaimed water a year once the new wastewater plant comes online, said Mike LaRow, environmental director for Hualapai Solar. That should meet about 75 percent of the plants needs. The remainder of the water will come from the local aquifer.
The plant will have four wells to draw from; one will be reserved as a backup, LaRow said. Once the company starts receiving reclaimed water it will reduce the amount of water it draws from the ground.
Hualapai Solar expects to get 100 percent of its water from the wastewater treatment plant within three years as the community expands, Bartlett said. Water used by the plant will be recycled through the system at least 58 times before it evaporates, he said.
The company has yet to apply for an aquifer protection permit from the state, which would allow it to draw ground water, Bartlett, said.
The company will monitor the amount of water pumped and the information will be made public if required, LaRow said.
Cooling options
Questions were also raised about the possibility of the company using either dry cooling or hybrid cooling technology instead of ground water to cool the plant.
LaRow said the company had looked at all three cooling technologies. Dry cooling was not as efficient as wet cooling in a desert atmosphere. It also required a higher energy load, which would decrease the amount of energy the plant would produce for the market.
Hybrid cooling uses both air and water to cool the turbines for the plant, he said. It also has the same benefits and drawbacks of both technologies. It uses less water than a water cooled system, but also uses more energy and is less efficient because of dry cooling.
Another resident asked if there was sufficient capacity on the transmission lines Hualapai Solar planned to tap into.
A study was completed in July and sent to the ACC in August as part of the plant's application, Bartlett said.
Before the ACC will approve the solar plant, the company has to prove that it has a buyer for the power it will produce, Bartlett said. The company is currently preparing bids to send out to various electricity companies.
The meeting was the first of two the Western Area Power Administration will hold on the project, said Mary Barger, WAPA document manager for the project. WAPA will continue to collect written comments for its environmental impact study on the project until Oct. 23. Comments can be e-mailed to HVSolar@wapa.gov, faxed to (602) 605-2630, submitted on line at www.wapa.gov/transmission/HVSolar.htm, or mailed to Mary Barger, NEPA Document Manager, Western Area Power Administration, Box 6457, Phoenix, AZ 85005.
For more information about the project, visit www.wapa.gov/transmission/HVSolar.htm or call (602) 605-2524.
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Posted: Saturday, October 31, 2009
Article comment by:
Gary Steiner
I'am sure there is a lot of people interested in employment at the solar plant.How and where can you apply for a job with them?
Posted: Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Article comment by:
clarice
I was there, they are cooperatively answering questions that THEY have their experts working on..I noticed the water use is down to 2275 from 3-4000 acre feet...Miracle....I still haven't found the answer to my question "Are you getting a tax break" and if so how much?
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