Mar 18 2010

A Brighter Day for BrightSource

Posted by: Jonathan Marshall

When, more than two years ago, Oakland-based BrightSource Energy first submitted plans for some huge solar power projects that would help California maintain its leadership in green energy, little did it know that environmental regulations would become a much bigger challenge than proving its technology or raising capital.

The company has its solar thermal “power tower” technology in hand, with a demonstration project up and running in Israel’s Negev desert.

The company has plenty of demand, with more than 2.6 gigawatts of solar capacity under contract, including a record 1,310 MW with PG&E.

It has generous financing from investors like Chevron, and Google.org., as well as nearly $1.4 billion on loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy.

And it has commitments from one of the world’s leading engineering and construction companies, Bechtel, to build its first major facility, the Ivanpah Solar Electricity Generating System in the Mohave Desert.

But for the last two and a half years, BrightSource has been unable to get regulators to approve its Ivanpah plant, despite downsizing the plans from an initial 440 MW to 392 MW to minimize its local impact on desert tortoises and various plant species.

That may finally change, with a recommendation this week by the staff of the California Energy Commission to move ahead with the project.

The staff wisely balanced the inevitable local impact any project would have against the clear gains for the global environment from cleaner energy.

“[I]t will provide critical environmental benefits by helping the state reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and these positive attributes must be weighed against the project’s adverse impacts,” Terry O’Brien, deputy director at the CEC, wrote in a memorandum on March 16. “It is because of these benefits and the concerns regarding the adverse impacts that global warming will have upon the state and our environment, including desert ecosystems, that staff believes it would be appropriate for the commission to approve the project . . .”  

Many environmental groups still oppose the project in its current location, despite its proximity to a golf course, Interstate 15, casinos and existing power transmission lines.  BrightSource reportedly plans to pay $25 million to buy land to relocate 25 desert tortoises that could be displaced by its project. Its project still faces further reviews by the Bureau of Land Management.

© 2008 Pacific Gas and Electric Company. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms

"PG&E" refers to Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation.