Under the agreement, Grand View Solar PV One will develop a field of solar panels across 180 acres of land, located 16 miles west of Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho. Company owner Robert Paul said this is his first solar installation. "Large solar projects are just now becoming feasible," he said. Solar panels have become more efficient, and the push for renewable energy has encouraged agencies to support solar energy.
The location is close to the Canyon Creek electrical substation so Mr. Paul said he won't need to construct a substation, thus saving a couple of million dollars.
The solar power falls under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, which requires power companies to offer to buy power from qualifying small producers. Although the project's total capacity will be 20 MW, under the act Idaho Power won't pay the agreed rates for any more than an average of 10 MW monthly.
The proposed field is just the first of two solar projects Mr. Paul. is looking to undertake. He also said that he is working with Simplot to develop another solar panel field nearby, which will go through a separate permit process. "The 10 MW limitation is per permit, not per developer, so he could be paid for up to 20 MW," said Idaho Public Utilities Commission representative, Gene Fadness.
Idaho Power applied to the PUC for approval of the deal and the commission has now posted the proposal for public comment.
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
Becky Beetz
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.