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Cuyama Solar Array Project
What's New
The Energy Division deemed the application for the Cuyama Solar Array Project and County-Wide Inland Zoning Ordinance Amendments Project complete on October 27, 2011. It has been determined that an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will be prepared for the project. The first step of the environmental review process is document scoping, where the public and other affected agencies have the opportunity to provide input on environmental concerns, the focus of the project environmental document, feasible ways in which project impacts may be minimized to insignificant levels (mitigation measures) and potential alternatives to the project.
A Preliminary Environmental Assessment, prepared independently by the applicant, discusses potential project environmental impacts and will be used as a starting point for discussion.
An EIR scoping meeting was held on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 in the Cuyama Valley Recreation District. Twenty-one people attended the meeting, including Energy Division staff, First Solar representatives, prospective consultants responding to the EIR’s Request for Proposals and local Cuyama residents. Energy Division gave a presentation and opened the meeting up to comments. Following is a summary of the comments raised at the meeting:
- Analyze visual impacts of the project from Highway 33.
- Analyze visual impacts of the security fence and identify ways, such as vegetative screening, to reduce the “prison” appearance.
- Evaluate the potential for the project to expand in power output from what’s proposed.
- Identify how much grid capacity is actually available at the Cuyama substation connection and will this project preclude other such projects that may occur in the vicinity.
- Identify any changes that may need to occur at the Cuyama substation.
- Identify if the project is growth-inducing.
- Identify if the project will have a beneficial or other impact locally regarding power availability and delivery.
- Identify how the project would affect the community financially, positively and negatively.
- Explain why the LUDC amendments are proposed only on AG-II lands.
Cuyama Solar LLC, is proposing to construct the first commercial-scale solar energy project in Santa Barbara County. The project would generate up to 40 megawatts of power using single-axis solar photovoltaic panels. The facility would be located south of Cuyama and includes a 3-mile long power line to PG&E's Cuyama Substation (see Figures 1-3 below). The proposed project site would occupy 327 acres of actively cultivated, irrigated agricultural land.
The project requires a: Conditional Use Permit; a lot line adjustment; a consistency rezone; removal of 167 acres from an Agricultural Preserve (Williamson Act) Contract; and amendments to the County’s Land Use and Development Code (Zoning Ordinance) to allow large, utility-scale commercial photovoltaic solar projects on agriculturally-zoned (AG-II) property with a major Conditional Use Permit.
On April 12, 2011, the Board of Supervisors initiated the proposed Zoning Ordinance amendments to allow development of utility-scale, solar photovoltaic electrical generation projects on agriculturally zoned (AG-II) properties in the Inland Area of the County, subject to a Conditional Use Permit. The County’s current zoning ordinance provides for permitting of small-scale solar projects for residences and other end-users of the generated electricity, but does not provide for larger projects whose primary purpose is to sell electricity off-site to utility companies. Initiation of amendments is the first step in the process of amending the Zoning Ordinance. Initiation does not assure adoption of amendments, but starts the public process that could result in adoption of amendments.
What’s
Next?
The Energy Division has sent out a Notice of Preparation for an Environmental Impact Report to solicit input from the public and affected agencies on environmental concerns, the focus of the project environmental document, feasible ways in which project impacts may be minimized to insignificant levels (mitigation measures) and potential alternatives to the project. The public comment period is extended to January 20, 2012. Please send your comments to: Kathy McNeal Pfeifer, Planning & Development, Energy Division at 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 or to kathypm@countyofsb.org. Information updates will be posted on this web page as the environmental review and permitting process moves forward.
Project Information
The Cuyama Solar Array Project was initially proposed to Planning & Development by Edison Mission Energy in September 2009, under P&D’s pre-application process. Numerous preliminary meetings have been held with County committees and agencies, including the Agricultural Advisory Committee, Agricultural Preserve Advisory Committee, County Public Works Department, and Fire Department. A Conceptual Review Hearing was held at the County Planning Commission on November 18, 2009. The applicant has also met with community groups and state and federal agencies in an outreach effort. The project was acquired by First Solar, Inc., prior to submittal of the permit application submittal on March 30, 2010.
The project is responsive to California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires California’s investor-owned electric utilities to obtain a prescribed portion of their electricity supply from renewable sources: 20% of retail sales for a period of January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2013; 25% by December 31, 2016; and 33% by December 31, 2020.
According to the project applicant, the electrical transmission lines in the area have sufficient capacity to accept an additional 40 to 45 MW of generated electricity. The applicant believes that the sunlight and atmospheric conditions in the Cuyama Valley are adequate to support a commercial solar project, with current technology and economic conditions.
The five parcels currently identified for this project are owned by Bolthouse Properties, LLC, and are under active cultivation by Bolthouse Farms. The primary crop is carrots, along with rotational crops including onions and potatoes. The land is classified prime farmland, with Class I and II soils. It is irrigated with water from off-site wells and stored in an on-site irrigation pond. Groundwater overdraft resulting from irrigated agriculture is an ongoing problem in the Cuyama groundwater basin. One of the parcels is part of a larger (1,529 acre) Agricultural Preserve contract. The proposed project requests removal of 167 acres from the contract by partial cancellation.
The project involves construction and operation of a 40 MW solar photovoltaic energy generating facility, consisting of approximately 34, 1.26 megawatt (MW) solar arrays, mounted on steel and aluminum support structures in a horizontal tracking configuration. The thin-film PV modules (each approximately 2 feet wide by 4 feet long) would convert solar energy directly to electrical power to supply the electrical grid. The arrays would be arranged in north/south rows, and would be powered by a DC drive motor to track the east/west path of the sun on a single axis throughout the day. Vertical posts driven up to 10 feet in the ground would support the tracker structures. The highest point for a horizontal tracker occurs during the early morning and evening hours, and at the maximum angle, the height above grade would be approximately 11 feet. The facility would be surrounded by a security fence. (see Figure 3 below)
Within each 1.26 MW tracker array, an anemometer tower, up to 33 feet in height, would be centrally mounted to monitor wind speed and communicate with the tracker units. Each Power Conversion Station (PCS) Shelter would be equipped with communication equipment to wirelessly communicate with the tracker units to control operation and detect anomalous conditions. The PCS Shelter would also be equipped with emergency backup power required to rotate the tracker units to stow position in the unlikely event of high winds and a loss of the primary 70kV electrical connection from the Project to the electrical grid. The emergency backup power system would be battery power.
A new 3-mile 70kV generation tie-line would be constructed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and would deliver the Project’s generated power from the onsite substation to the Taft-Cuyama 70kV #1 Line (Point of Interconnection – POI), located adjacent to the west side of the Cuyama substation. The new generation tie-line would replace PG&E’s existing 12kV wood distribution poles with new light-steel, double circuit 115kV transmission line poles along Kirschenmann Road (a public right- of-way) and Washington Street (a private road). The new poles would be approximately 70-feet to 100-feet tall, with a pole span ranging between approximately 300- to 500-feet. (See Figure 4 below).
Click here for a complete project description.
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