West Coast Leads Nation in Third-Quarter Renewable Project Starts

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The West Coast is leading the nation in the value and amount of renewable energy construction starts in the third quarter of 2009. The West Coast market region, which includes the states of California, Washington and Oregon, as well as Hawaii, has 13 renewable energy projects worth a total of $4.4 billion that are planned to kick off construction this quarter. In terms of value, the Great Lakes region follows with $1.3 billion of planned renewable energy, while the Southwest region rounds out the top three U.S. regions with $1.2 billion of renewable energy projects set to kick off this quarter.

Click on image at right for a breakdown by region of planned third-quarter renewable energy construction starts in the U.S.

In the West Coast region, solar and wind projects lead the renewables sector, accounting for a combined $3.7 billion of projects. The solar sector is dominated by the massive $2 billion Ivanpah Solar Generating System in San Bernardino County. The concentrating solar power project will add between 390 and 440 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the grid. The generated power will be purchased by Pacific Gas & Electric company, which is a subsidiary a PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) (San Francisco, California), and Southern California Edison Company, a subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE:EIX) (Rosemead, California).

On August 4, the Bureau of Land Management and the California Energy Commission gave their approvals for the project. Following a 30-day comment period, final permits are expected to be issued in early September, paving the way for construction to begin by the end of that month.

With the exception of a windfarm in Hawaii (see August 12, 2010, article - First Wind Holdings Doubling Capacity in Hawaii to 60 Megawatts), the windfarms slated for construction in the West Coast region this quarter are in Washington. Two windfarms near the small town of Bickleton in Klickitat County are planned to begin construction during the quarter. The windfarms each have total investment values (TIVs) of $345 million. The Miller Ranch Windfarm will have 59 2-MW installed and is tentatively scheduled to be completed by the end of the year for a total generating capacity of 118 MW. The Juniper Canyon windfarm will have 63 turbines and total generating capacity of 150 MW.

Helping boost the region's renewables construction starts is the construction of a grassroot geothermal power plant near the town of Niland in southern California. Site preparation began in May. Construction is planned to kick off this quarter and last about 21 months, meaning that the plant should be operational in early 2012. The plant will generate approximately 49.9 megawatts of power and has an estimated TIV of $400 million.

Information on all of these projects can be found in Industrial Info's Renewable Energy Database, which provides extensive coverage on the wind energy, geothermal, hydroelectric, landfill gas-to-energy and utility-scale solar power plants throughout North America, and is now expanding coverage across the world.

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