MORENO VALLEY, Calif. - The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a public meeting to solicit public input for the Palen Solar project technology conversion.
The California Energy Commission previously approved, and the BLM previously prepared, a Final Environmental Impact Statement for development of the project using thermal solar trough technology. EDF Renewable Energy now proposes to construct and operate the project as a 500 megawatt solar photovoltaic electric generating facility with associated infrastructure in the same 4,200-acre project site previously analyzed by the BLM and approved by the CEC.
The project is located in eastern Riverside County north of the I-10 Interstate, approximately 10 miles east of the community of Desert Center.
Due to the change in technology for the project, the BLM is preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement that will include opportunities for public review and feedback. Two public meetings will be held.
The first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, 2016, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Palm Springs City Hall, 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs, CA 92262. The second meeting will be scheduled with a 15-day advance notice to the public. The public comment period will then end 30 days after the second public meeting.
The project incorporates a single-axis tracking system that would include 200 power blocks with an electrical generating capacity of 2.5 megawatt each. Infrastructure would include an electrical switchyard, a common facilities area, a temporary construction laydown area, access roads, and a single circuit 230 kilovolt generation tie-line electric transmission line extending from the project to the Red Bluff Substation.
For further information contact: Bureau of Land Management, Palm Springs South Coast Field Office, 1201 Bird Center Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92262 or call (760) 833-7100.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
