$128 million solar plant planned for Boron

Would add 50 jobs to area
BY BILL DEAVER
BORON — A $128 million, state-of-the-art solar power generating plant is being planned for a site just east of here, Nick Panachev of Ecosystem Solar Electric Corp.(ESE) told the DesertNews last week.
Panachev said the proposed facility will employ about 50 people when it is up-and-running, and around 500 during the year it is being built.
“We plan to generate power for 10-cents a watt,” Panachev said in a telephone interview from his Las Vegas office. That price compares to 35-cents per watt from current solar power generators, he said.
“We plan to make solar power competitive with power generated” by more traditional means, he said.
The site is just east of Boron and south of Highway 58 in Kern County, and ESE owns all the land.
Panachev said ESE has owned the land for several years rather than try to use federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Using BLM land involves a much-more involved process than private property, he explained.
Approvals required
ESE faces a year’s wait while the California Energy Commission reviews their application, Panachev said, adding that the company plans to contact public agencies and potential “interveners” before beginning the environmental impact report process.
Briefing water districts, environmental groups, and other interested parties before beginning the formal approval process is intended to potentially streamline the approval process, Panachev explained.
To meet a potential requirement that the company provide land to mitigate impacts on wildlife, Panachev said ESE also owns property in San Bernardino County north of Boron acquired for that purpose.
ESE also plans to build three more solar power plants in San Bernardino County east of Highway 395. he said the company ruled-out sites in California City because of the proximity of the Desert Tortoise Preserve.
Site requirements
Panachev said solar power plant sites must meet several requirements. They must be close to a power substation, located on properly-zoned land, close to a natural gas line (The gas is used to get the hybrid plant started), close to electrical power transmission lines, and not close to homes.
“We meet all those criteria,” Panachev said. A power plant is located a few miles away at Kramer Junction, a qualifying power transmission line is near the site, and the site is away from homes.
“We can easily transmit DC (direct current) power on this line” to the Kramer substation, Panachev noted.
He said the site is also served by dirt roads and easements that will be paved.
Developers not operators
ESE develops and builds plants but does not operate them, Panachev said. The firm will negotiate with firms like Southern California Edison or Pacific Gas and Electric or other investors to purchase and operate the plants.
“We are professional architects, engineers, and builders,” Panachev said.
He said the desert is a great place to generate solar power. “We can generate thousands of megawatts of power in the desert.”
 

BORON SOLAR PLANT—Artist’s rendition of a $128 million solar power plant proposed for construction near Boron.

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