Bureau of Land Management LANDS & REALTY

SOLAR ENERGY

The dry, sun-drenched desert areas of the southwestern United States hold enormous potential for large-scale deployment of solar energy facilities and systems. Solar energy can be used to generate electricity, monitor ecosystem conditions, pump water for livestock, and provide lighting and communications in remote desert areas. Today, 354-megawatt parabolic trough solar thermal power plants in California’s Mojave Desert generate electricity for the power grid. Contracts for energy produced by these plants provide power to about 380,000 homes.

Solar radiation levels in the Southwest are some of the best in the world. A significant number of acres administered by the BLM in Arizona, southern California, Nevada and New Mexico register average annual premium levels of solar radiation in excess of 7.0 kilowatt hours per square-meter per day (kWh/m²/day). These levels are suitable for solar power plant development using current technology. Many of these lands are in proximity to Phoenix and Tucson (Arizona) and Las Vegas (Nevada) and to the energy grid supplying Los Angeles and San Diego (California).

There are currently no pending applications for developing large-scale commercial solar energy projects on public lands. This is due in part to the high cost of plant construction, unfavorable economic conditions, the availability of other, more cost-effective renewable energy sources (e.g., wind and geothermal), and the environmental impacts of large-scale solar facilities.

However, as we search for clean, affordable domestic energy sources, there is renewed interest in using solar energy to produce electricity. Although solar energy currently accounts for less than one percent of the electricity used in the U.S., it can supplement other resources to serve the country’s need for clean, reliable energy and help sustain continued economic development.

In anticipation of industry’s renewed interest in solar energy development, the BLM has issued new guidance on processing right-of-way (ROW) applications for solar energy projects on public lands. The new policy:

• describes options for generating electricity using solar power and the geophysical attributes that make a site suitable for locating solar facilities and projects.
• identifies some of the potential environmental impacts.
• directs BLM Field Offices to consider renewable resources — specifically solar energy development — when undertaking the land planning process.
• places a priority on processing solar energy applications that are feasible and can reasonably meet environmental requirements.
• directs expanded use of solar energy devices for new BLM buildings and other uses on public lands, where feasible.
• directs Field staff to coordinate planning and applications with local officials to reduce duplication and delays.
• reiterates existing policy that current users and permitees do not need additional authorizations to install solar energy devices on existing authorized facilities.
• phases-in rent over a three-year period to allow time for State and utility approvals and initial construction.
• reinforces due-diligence requirements to discourage applicants from speculation or attempting to control or hinder solar energy development on public lands.

BLM’s new guidance will facilitate the processing of applications for solar energy projects on Federal lands. In this way, the BLM will contribute to improving the prospects for additional supplies of clean energy and continued economic growth in the Southwest.

• BLM Solar Energy Policy
• Solar energy press release from Asst. Interior Secretary Rebecca Watson
• Assessing The Potential For Renewable Energy on Public Lands Web Page
  • Assessing The Potential For Renewable Energy on Public Lands" Report (4.52MB PDF)
• Right-of-Way Management — Land-Use Planning directive (IM2002-196)
• SF 299: Application for Right-of-Way (22KB PDF) - mail or fax form to the appropriate office
• BLM Visual Resource Mgmt Web Page
• Dept. of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Dept. of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory Web site
• Renewable Energy Atlas of the West
• Overview of Concentrating Solar Power Technology — Sandia National Lab
• Descriptions of Mojave Desert solar power plants:
  • Kramer Junction Solar Power Plants
  • Harper Lake Solar Power Plants
• Overview of Photovoltaic Solar Technology

Last updated: 10/21/04

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