Aspen Provides Full Services For Solar Project Approval
For nearly two years, Aspen Environmental Group has provided a wide range of environmental technical and permitting services in support of Intersect Power’s (IP) Athos Renewable Energy project, a 500-megawatt solar photovoltaic facility with integrated energy storage and a generation-tie line that connects into the statewide power grid. The project needs authorization from both Riverside County (for the solar field, battery storage, and collector lines) and the Bureau of Land Management (for the 220-kV transmission interconnection into SCE’s Red Bluff Substation).
On June 18, 2019, the Aspen-prepared Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was certified, and the project was unanimously approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors with a 5-0 vote.
Large solar projects like Athos are essential for California to meet its renewable energy goals, with a current target of 50% renewable energy by 2020. Aspen is proud to be a part of this important step.
The project is located approximately 80 miles east of Palm Springs, in a part of Riverside County where there have been several large solar energy projects proposed and developed. The solar facility will be located on 3,228 acres of private land – where the other nearby projects have all been on BLM-administered public lands. The IP Athos project features a low-impact design, developing previously disturbed agricultural lands that have not been farmed for years. This site is in and around a federal “Solar Energy Zone” and “Development Focus Area,” where solar power generation has been defined as one of the best uses for the land.
The Draft EIR and its proposed development of a major solar project on previously disturbed land was commended by a group of environmental organizations:
We [Defenders of Wildlife and Sierra Club] consider the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the proposed project of high quality, accurate and concise in the analysis of impacts and proposed mitigation measures, and easy to read and understand. We thank the County of Riverside for its efforts in producing this document for review and comment.
Over the course of the Athos project, Aspen has provided IP with services that include technical analysis for CEQA and NEPA documents and support for permits, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Incidental Take Permit and Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement. Aspen’s unparalleled experience analyzing large solar projects and transmission lines has allowed our team to provide efficient and knowledgeable support to IP, leading to a thorough, legally defensible EIR, and helping California take one step closer to meeting our renewable energy goals.