1 11.2 DELAMAR VALLEY 2 3 4 11.2.1 Background and Summary of Impacts 5 6 7 11.2.1.1 General Information 8 9 The proposed Delamar Valley SEZ is located in Lincoln County in southeastern Nevada 10 about 21 mi (34 km) south of the proposed Dry Lake Valley North SEZ (Figure 11.2.1.1-1). The 11 SEZ has a total area of 16,552 acres (67 km2). In 2008, the county population was 4,643, while 12 adjacent Clark County to the south had a population of 1,879,093. The largest nearby town is 13 Alamo, Nevada, about 11 mi (18 km) west in Lincoln County. The town of Panaca is located 14 about 33 mi (53 km) northeast. Las Vegas lies about 90 mi (145 km) to the south. 15 16 The nearest major road access to the SEZ is via U.S. 93, which runs north–south, 17 approximately 8 to 14 mi (13 to 23 km) to the west of the Delamar Valley SEZ and also east– 18 west, approximately 8 mi (13 km) to the north of the SEZ. State Route 317 passes from the north 19 to the south approximately 16 to 21 mi (26 to 34 km) east of the SEZ. The nearest railroad stop is 20 in Caliente, 22 mi (35 km) away, while Lincoln County Airport is located 15 mi (24 km) north of 21 Caliente in Panaca. 22 23 A 69-kV transmission line passes through the SEZ. It is assumed that this existing 24 transmission line could potentially provide access from the SEZ to the transmission grid 25 (see Section 11.2.1.1.2). 26 27 As of March 2010, there were two ROW applications for solar projects and one 28 application for a wind project that would be located within 50 mi (80 km) of the SEZ. These 29 applications are discussed in Section 11.2.22.2.1. 30 31 The proposed Delamar Valley SEZ is isolated and undeveloped. The SEZ is located 32 in Delamar Valley, a north trending closed basin within the Basin and Range physiographic 33 province immediately south of Dry Lake Valley and lying between the South Pahroc Range 34 to the west and the Delamar Mountains to the east and southeast. Land within the SEZ is 35 undeveloped scrubland characteristic of a high-elevation, semiarid basin. 36 37 The proposed Delamar Valley SEZ in Nevada and other relevant information are shown 38 in Figure 11.2.1.1-1. The criteria used to identify the proposed Delamar Valley SEZ as an 39 appropriate location for solar energy development included proximity to existing transmission or 40 designated corridors, proximity to existing roads, a slope of generally less than 2%, and an area 41 of more than 2,500 acres (10 km2). In addition, the area was identified as being relatively free of 42 other types of conflicts, such as USFWS-designated critical habitat for threatened and 43 endangered species, ACECs, SRMAs, and NLCS lands (see Section 2.2.2.2 for the complete list 44 of exclusions). Although these classes of restricted lands were excluded from the proposed SEZ, 45 other restrictions might be appropriate. The analyses in the following sections address the 46 affected environment and potential impacts associated with utility-scale solar energy Draft Solar PEIS 11.2-1 December 2010 1 2 FIGURE 11.2.1.1-1 Proposed Delamar Valley SEZ Draft Solar PEIS 11.2-2 December 2010 1 development in the proposed SEZ for important environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic 2 resources. 3 4 As initially announced in the Federal Register on June 30, 2009, the proposed Delamar 5 Valley SEZ encompassed 17,932 acres (73 km2). Subsequent to the study area scoping period, 6 the boundaries of the proposed Delamar Valley SEZ were altered somewhat to facilitate the 7 BLM’s administration of the SEZ area. The revised SEZ is approximately 1,380 acres (6 km2) 8 smaller than the original SEZ as published in June 2009. 9 10 11 11.2.1.2 Development Assumptions for the Impact Analysis 12 13 Maximum solar development of the proposed Delamar Valley SEZ is assumed to be 80% 14 of the SEZ area over a period of 20 years, a maximum of 13,242 acres (54 km2). These values 15 are shown in Table 11.2.1.2-1, along with other development assumptions. Full development 16 of the Delamar Valley SEZ would allow development of facilities with an estimated total of 17 1,471 MW of electrical power capacity if power tower, dish engine, or PV technologies were 18 used, assuming 9 acres/MW (0.04 km2/MW) of land required and an estimated 2,648 MW of 19 power if solar trough technologies were used, assuming 5 acres/MW (0.02 km2/MW) of land 20 required. 21 22 Availability of transmission from SEZs to load centers will be an important consideration 23 for future development in SEZs. The nearest existing transmission line is a 69-kV line that runs 24 through the SEZ. It is possible that this existing line could be used to provide access from the 25 SEZ to the transmission grid, but the 69-kV capacity of that line would be inadequate for 1,471 26 to 2,648 MW of new capacity (note: a 500 kV line can accommodate approximately the load of 27 one 700 MW facility). At full build-out capacity, it is clear that substantial new transmission 28 and/or upgrades of existing transmission lines would be required to bring electricity from the 29 proposed Delamar Valley SEZ to load centers; however, at this time the location and size of such 30 new transmission facilities are unknown. Generic impacts of transmission and associated 31 infrastructure construction and of line upgrades for various resources are discussed in Chapter 5. 32 Project-specific analyses would need to identify the specific impacts of new transmission 33 construction and line upgrades for any projects proposed within the SEZ. 34 35 For the purposes of analysis in the PEIS, it was assumed that an existing 69-kV 36 transmission line which intersects the SEZ could provide initial access to the transmission grid, 37 and thus no additional acreage disturbance for transmission line access was assessed. Access to 38 the existing 69-kV transmission line was assumed, without additional information on whether 39 this line would be available for connection of future solar facilities. If a connecting transmission 40 line were constructed in the future to connect facilities within the SEZ to a different, offsite, grid 41 location from the one assumed here, site developers would need to determine the impacts from 42 construction and operation of that line. In addition, developers would need to determine the 43 impacts of line upgrades if they are needed. 44 45 An additional 58 acres (0.2 km2) was assumed to be needed for new road access to 46 support solar development in the Delamar Valley SEZ, as summarized in Table 11.2.1.2-1. This Draft Solar PEIS 11.2-3 December 2010 TABLE 11.2.1.2-1 Proposed Delamar Valley SEZ—Assumed Development Acreages, Solar MW Output, Access Roads, and Transmission Line ROWs Assumed Distance Area of Total Acreage Maximum Distance to and Capacity Assumed and Assumed SEZ Output Nearest State, of Nearest Transmission Distance to Developed for Various U.S., or Existing Line and Nearest Acreage Solar Interstate Transmission Road Designated (80% of Total) Technologies Highway Line ROWs Corridore 16,552 acres and 1,471 MWb State Route 93 0 mi and 69 kV 0 acres and Adjacent 13,242 acresa and 9 mid 58 acres 2,648 MWc a To convert acres to km2, multiply by 0.004047. b Maximum power output if the SEZ were fully developed using power tower, dish engine, or PV technologies, assuming 9 acres/MW (0.04 km2/MW) of land required. c Maximum power output if the SEZ were fully developed using solar trough technologies, assuming 5 acres/MW (0.02 km2/MW) of land required. d To convert mi to km, multiply by 1.609. e BLM-designated corridors are developed for federal land use planning purposes only and are not applicable to state-owned or privately owned land. 1 2 3 estimate was based on the assumption that a new 8-mi (13-km) access road to the nearest major 4 road, U.S. 93, would support construction and operation of solar facilities. While there are 5 existing dirt/ranch roads within the SEZ, additional internal road construction may be required to 6 support solar facility construction. 7 8 9 11.2.1.3 Summary of Major Impacts and SEZ-Specific Design Features 10 11 In this section, the impacts and SEZ-specific design features assessed in Sections 11.2.2 12 through 11.2.21 for the proposed Delamar Valley SEZ are summarized in tabular form. 13 Table 11.2.1.3-1 is a comprehensive list of impacts discussed in these sections; the reader may 14 reference the applicable sections for detailed support of the impact assessment. Section 11.2.22 15 discusses potential cumulative impacts from solar energy development in the proposed SEZ. 16 17 Only those design features specific to the proposed Delamar Valley SEZ are included in 18 Sections 11.2.2 through 11.2.21 and in the summary table. The programmatic design features for 19 each resource area to be required under BLM’s Solar Energy Program are presented in 20 Appendix A, Section A.2.2.