Hanwha Group subsidiary 174 Power Global Corp. is proposing to build an 800-MW solar project on 4,654 acres of federal land in southeastern La Paz County, Ariz., according to an announcement from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM held an informational meeting Feb. 19 in Quartzsite, Ariz., which is about 30 miles west of the proposed project site. The developer would construct, operate and maintain the Orion Solar project, which would be built in two or more phases, according to a BLM press release.
A 4.6-mile, 500-kV transmission line would connect the project to a new substation for the proposed 500-kV Ten West Link transmission line, the BLM said. DCR Transmission LLC — a joint venture led by affiliates of Starwood Energy Group Global LLC, a private investment firm specializing in energy infrastructure investments — would build the Ten West Link between Palm Springs, Calif., and Palo Verde, Ariz.
DCR Transmission in December 2019 filed an application for a permit from the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee, which recently held hearings on the transmission project. DCR Transmission has obtained federal right-of-way approval from the BLM.
The Orion Solar project would be located just north of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The BLM said the project would be within a variance area, which is BLM-administered public land outside of a solar energy zone identified in the agency's Western Solar Plan. Variance areas potentially are available for utility-scale solar energy development, but the BLM said it must consider projects proposed in such areas in accordance with its established variance process.
In a Jan. 16 letter to the Arizona Corporation Commission, which has the final say on whether a permit is granted for the Ten West Link, Hanwha Energy USA Holdings Corp. President Henry Yun said 174 Power Global is developing a 3,200-MW solar generation and energy storage project in western Arizona and has filed a large generator interconnection request to connect the proposed facility to the transmission line. "The development of this renewable energy project will bring significant economic development and tax revenues to western Arizona," he wrote.
The companies could not be reached immediately to confirm whether the Orion Solar facility is part of the project Yun mentioned in his letter.
If approved, the Orion Solar project would be in a position to compete to supply power to Pinnacle West Capital Corp. subsidiary Arizona Public Service Co., which has announced that it needs 300 MW to 500 MW a year of renewable energy over the next decade and at least 300 MW of battery storage a year from 2022 to 2030 in order to meet its interim target of 45% renewable energy by 2030.