RSSOne of the world's largest solar projects is planned near Cle Elum
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CLE ELUM, Wash. -- Coal -- one of the dirtiest sources of energy around -- was once king in this Upper Kittitas County town.
Now the vision is cleaner and greener because of a massive solar installation proposed for 580 acres of logged timberland about four miles northeast of the city limits.
The Teanaway Solar Reserve, proposed by Kirkland, Wash., businessman Howard Trott, is seeking approval from the county to install 400,000 photovoltaic panels in a large array that will convert sunlight into enough power for 45,000 households.
Local residents and businesses are greeting the project with a mix of excitement and caution.
Because of the housing slowdown, everyone's eager for an estimated 225 construction jobs over a three-year period. The city of Cle Elum and Kittitas County are likewise eyeing close to $2 million a year in new property tax revenue. And businesses suffering in the recession are hoping to win contracts to make parts.
Some residents worry the panels will disrupt elk migration while others worry their views will be obstructed, although the solar modules will sit amid vegetation below the ridge lines. Some trees will have to be cut, but for each one felled, three will be planted.
But by far the biggest question about the $300 million-plus project -- which would be one of the largest in the world -- is this: Will it ever get built? After all, the promise of solar energy has always exceeded the reality.
Trott, the boyish, 49-year-old financial whiz behind the vision, waves away any skepticism that his is a pipe dream. He points to his experience with another technology once thought to be all sizzle: cellular telecommunications.
For 22 years, Trott was the investment manager for telecom giant Craig McCaw of Seattle, a pioneer in the wireless industry.
"That was something people didn't think would last either," Trott said in an interview last week after giving a presentation on the project to members of the Cle Elum City Council.
For Trott to make a planned construction start date of April next year he's going to need commitments from buyers -- namely big utility companies.
As someone who says he's always been fascinated by electricity and its applications to renewable energy, Trott hopes the project will sell itself to customers who share the same commitment.
Favorable pricing on solar panels, state and federal tax incentives and the green agenda of the Obama administration are the primary reasons why the Teanaway Solar Reserve will pencil out and come to fruition, according to Trott.
"We've seen an opportunity and have moved quickly to take advantage of it," he said.
Prices paid by solar developers for the rectangular panels that collect the sun's energy have been declining for the last several years. This year alone the price has dropped 17 percent, according to research published in October by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California.
While wind power projects have dominated the renewable landscape in the state of Washington, large-scale solar farms have been springing up throughout the sunny Southwest and in California because of the increasingly favorable economics.
The same researchers also said the average cost of going solar in the United States fell by more than 30 percent from 1998 to 2008, "a trend that can be largely attributed to the success of market-building policies at the state and local level."
Those policies include state and federal tax credits and, in the state of Washington, a voter-approved renewable energy mandate.
The state Renewable Electricity Standard mandates that by 2020 the state's largest electric utilities meet 15 percent of their retail supply with renewable electricity. The requirement will be phased in beginning in 2012 with a 3 percent renewable standard.
Wind power has a big head start and is expected to continue to provide the bulk of the green energy under the mandate because of its cost advantage over solar, said Robert Kahn, executive director of the Northwest and Intermountain Power Producers Coalition.
This year the Legislature also passed a retail sales tax exemption for equipment used in renewable energy production. The 100 percent exemption is good through June 2011.
For a photovoltaic project like Teanaway, where the solar panels are at least half the total project cost, the sales tax exemption is worth an estimated $12 million a year.
The federal investment tax credit of 30 percent provides an immediate write-off of costs, upping the project's return on investment in the first year, Trott said.
Trott won't name the investors he's attracted to the project, citing the private nature of the deal, but he said he's "looked them in the eye" regarding the numbers.
Al Aldrich is a seasoned government affairs adviser formerly with the Snohomish County Public Utility District and now a communications adviser to Teanaway Solar as a principal of Strategies 360, a national firm with headquarters in Seattle. Even though Trott is a newcomer to the energy business, Aldrich said his business track record is well established and recognized by the utility companies that will ultimately sign contracts to buy Teanaway's power.
As Aldrich put it: "They don't waste time on flakes."
Indeed, signing a long-term power supply agreement with a major utility is the key to Teanaway's success because it would generate the revenue to pay back investors.
What utilities are willing to pay for that power and how much it covers Teanaway's costs to produce it amount to the proverbial devil in the details, according to Jonathan Lesser, president of Continental Economics, an energy consulting firm based near Albuquerque.
"It's going to come down to pricing. He's going to need those long-term contracts with somebody," Lesser said. Still, Lesser added, the economics have been running in solar's favor.
Negotiations haven't started yet with Puget Sound Energy, which owns a transmission line in the area in addition to the Wild Horse Wind Farm, also in Kittitas County. But the utility "is certainly interested in developing a relationship" with the project, said spokesman Andy Wappler.
Aldrich said the solar project's viability is not dependent on producing energy at the lowest possible cost. Renewable energy, he said, has a certain cachet.
"You're going to have buyers for whom price is clearly not their primary consideration," he said. As a hypothetical example he cited Google, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Internet company that has a corporate commitment to renewable sources.
Trott has hired engineers to puzzle out such questions as whether Bonneville Power Administration has enough room on its transmission grid to accept the solar electricity.
"We think they are going to determine there is room," said Aldrich, "but Puget Sound is a back-up if Bonneville doesn't work."
The Cle Elum site was chosen in part because of its proximity to existing transmission lines as well as its high latitude, which yields long, sunny summer days.
But there's another potential reason for the location: The solar project will be leasing the land from Ellensburg-based American Forest Land Holdings, which recently announced a real estate project on adjacent land it owns in the Teanaway area. American Forest officials are touting their plan to use green energy to power what they are calling a "fully contained community." No details on the size of the community have been released.
But Aldrich said there is no relationship between the solar project and the real estate development. "We continue to plan on selling the solar output to utilities and perhaps some businesses," he said.
One problem the solar project doesn't have to worry about is water. Photovoltaic projects, unlike thermal solar projects, don't heat water to drive a turbine to generate power. Thermal projects must use large amounts of water for a cooling process and are running into opposition in parts of the Southwest and California.
Renewable energy advocates around the state are rooting for the Cle Elum project, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island.
Locally, officials who market the region to tourists and businesses are hopeful that being a solar hub will only add to the area's appeal.
"What a great plus for the environment and for it to be in our area," said Judy Tokarsyck, executive director of the Cle Elum-Roslyn Chamber of Commerce.
Trott hopes to lure a solar panel manufacturing company to the Cle Elum-Roslyn area to make panels for the project, and he has said such a company could stay in business if demand for solar panels by individual businesses and residences grows around the Northwest.
Markus Waldbaum, who runs Terra Matters, a Seattle-based renewable energy advising and consulting firm, calls himself a fan. The German-born engineer noted that the U.S. is way behind Europe and Germany in particular in the development of large-scale solar projects.
"It's long overdue. It's time to play catch up," Waldbaum said.
* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 509-577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.
What is photovoltaic power?
Some materials like silicon absorb photons of light and release electrons. Capturing the electrons with electrical conductors forms an electric circuit that can be used as electricity. Many large-scale solar projects like the Teanaway Solar Reserve are made up of silicon-coated solar panels.
Timeline for Teanaway Solar Reserve
* April 2010: Finish obtaining a variety of permits and approvals from Kittitas County, three state agencies and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
* April 2010: Start construction
* Fall 2010: Initial operation, with construction continuing over three years for completion.
The solar option is FAR LESS INTRUSIVE on the landscape than Wind power towers. If you haven't seen the skyline out of Goldendale or along one one of the most scenic views of the Gorge lately, you are in for a surprise. Thousands of huge towers dot the skyline for miles, some so close together that they seem to rotate into each other.
It is a disgrace that we have given Carte-Blanche to the power companies to erect these without proper and thorough environmental impact considerations, including our view.
Thank you Gov. Gregoire, for your only legacy other than massive state debt.
If there isn't some kind other motive to this project then this project doesn't make "cents". Any time you have to cut down trees to put solar panels up then there's a problem. Trees = rain = clouds. As far as altitude isn't the biggest solar plant in Death Valley. Build this project in a desert like Yakima.
Report ViolationI have often wondered why Yakima has not been a target for solar power.
I also hope that commercial solar power plants are more worthy than private solar panels installed in our homes. My father in law struggled a great deal with his panels.
The wind towers are a huge shock; however, I find them *almost* beautiful...in a science fiction sort of way.
Ever since this project was announced I have wondered how it will generate enough power to be financially feasible. Idaho Power did a study about 16 years ago that concluded that there wasn't enough energy available to make pv feasible north of an arc from Burns Oregon to Boise Idaho. If it is going to work in Kittitas County, a big 'if' in my mind, it would have a better chance out where the wind turbines are, north east of Kittitas. But, it's not pretty out there like it is at Cle Elum and wouldn't generate tourism dollars.
Report ViolationThat's $6,700 per household. But does that include all the power for a full day compensated by other sources? Or is that 45,000 homes for part of the day when the sun shines? And what is the efficiency decrease over time. Most solar cells deteriorate over time, thus the 45,000 becomes ~30,000 in 3 years. And how will the project have its power balanced on the grid?
How much taxpayer money will this cost? What is the cost per kilowatt hour?
He "looked him in the eye"? Is he serious?! That is supposed to make the project legitimate? And the investors are "secret"? I sense a scam, where investors are going to derive big taxpayer funded bonues and fees. FOLLOW THE MONEY, and be a skeptic if you're a supporter of this project.
And what company, in what country, will ultimately build the components? What will be the environmental cost of the components? Know that some solar cells are made with exotic materials, some of which we don't produce in the US (like the 17 rare earth metals under the monopolistic control of China). Some are toxic during production, such as cadmium.
Why doesn't the press ask the obvious questions? There can only be two reasons: One, the answers would turn people off from the project, which the writer has a vested interest in preventing, or Two, the writer didn't take Journalism 101.
Accountability in government! No one should support this project until ALL the questions and answers are made available to the public.
As for Bonneville deciding whether they have the capacity to absorb the power produced, consider that Bonneville's ability to cope is limited by increasing environmental control over water flow. Thus, what might be possible now, might not be possiblie with a judicial direction of flow rates to protect a fish, or the removal of dams.
The BPA, for years, has sold our cheap hydroelectric power to California. I can't help but think we are paying a good part of the tab for that. Otherwise, if we have so much excess power available, why does it cost us so much?
Report ViolationI live in Boston, but I have an interest in Yakima and the surrounding area because I lived here for 3 years, 17 years ago. I am reminded of the recent Solar Decathlon 2009 which just took place in Washington DC. There was no statement of cost of the solar homes in this 2 week DOE, Department of Energy, university competition. Maybe RandyDutton will appreciate this question. Perhaps there was a cost cap because it was stated that there was an RFR, Request for Response, associated with the competition. There was a statement that there was good success generating solar energy for household power for the homes in the competition. The Teanaway Solar Reserve is an intriguing concept for a solar power generation factory. I send my best wishes to Jay Inslee and his family and trust that he and senator Cantwell will be effective in helping develop the Teanaway Solar Reserve.
It is reasonable to be suspicious of secret private money financing a project which can not possibly provide venture capital type returns to the investors. There must be a hidden agenda! Or not.
What if they are telling the truth about having more altruistic goals and a longer term economic vision? Really rich people can do that if they want. They could be betting on the value of PV power in 15 years. A bet on the future. Another really rich guy just made that bet on a railroad. They are spending real money doing appropriate studies identifying impacts. They are open and answer questions. They expect to use no tax money directly although tax subsidies are embedded into every aspect of the PV industry. They are negotiating to establish Washington state based manufacturing and to jump start the solar PV industry in the state.
Who could they scam?
They might trick a solar PV module manufacturer into selling it's massive 2009 overstock at firesale prices. Watch out REC, $80 million may be headed to Norway via Moses Lake.
Until they step up to the tax subsidy bar with a half-full glass, why not give them the benefit of the doubt?
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