Concentrating Solar Power and Water Issues in the U.S. Southwest
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Concentrating Solar Power and Water Issues in the U.S. Southwest Nathan Bracken Western States Water Council Jordan Macknick and Angelica Tovar-Hastings National Renewable Energy Laboratory Paul Komor University of Colorado-Boulder Margot Gerritsen and Shweta Mehta Stanford University The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis is operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Colorado-Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines, the Colorado State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. Technical Report NREL/TP-6A50-61376 March 2015 Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 Concentrating Solar Power and Water Issues in the U.S. Southwest Nathan Bracken Western States Water Council Jordan Macknick and Angelica Tovar-Hastings National Renewable Energy Laboratory Paul Komor University of Colorado-Boulder Margot Gerritsen and Shweta Mehta Stanford University Prepared under Task No. 6A50.1010 The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis is operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of Colorado-Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines, the Colorado State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. JISEA® and all JISEA-based marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC. The Joint Institute for Technical Report Strategic Energy Analysis NREL/TP-6A50-61376 15013 Denver West Parkway March 2015 Golden, CO 80401 303-275-3000 • www.jisea.org Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/scitech Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 phone: 865.576.8401 fax: 865.576.5728 email: mailto:[email protected] Available for sale to the public, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 phone: 800.553.6847 fax: 703.605.6900 email: [email protected] online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/help/ordermethods.aspx Cover Photos: (left to right) PIX 04135, iStock 22779761, PIX 16933, PIX 15648, PIX 08466, PIX 21205 NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the following for their review, input, and contributions to this report: James Bartride and Roger Johnson of the California Energy Commission; Stacey Crowley of the Nevada State Office of Energy; Christopher Harris of the Colorado River Board of California; Tom Iseman of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Jeanine Jones of the California Department of Water Resources; Jason King of the Nevada Division of Water Resources; Kristin Mayes of the University of Arizona’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; Michael Lacey of the Arizona Department of Water Resources; Brad Nickell of Electrical Marketing Solutions; and Dwane Young of the Environmental Protection Agency. The authors would also like to thank Karin Haas, Mary Lukkonen, Craig Turchi, Laura Vimmerstedt of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as well as Tony Willardson and Sara Larsen of the Western States Water Council and Patricia Statwick of the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis for their support and insightful comments. The authors would also express their appreciation to the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis for supporting this work. The views expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect their respective institutions or the views of any states that are members of the Western Governors’ Association or Western States Water Council. Any errors are the sole responsibility of the authors. iii This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. List of Acronyms ACC Arizona Corporation Commission ADEQ Arizona Department of Environmental Quality ADWR Arizona Department of Water Resources AFC application for certification (California) AMA Active Management Area (Arizona) AOI Area of hydrologic impact (Arizona) ARRA American Reinvestment and Recovery Act AZPDES Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System BCPA Boulder Canyon Project Act BLM U.S. Bureau of Land Management BTU British thermal unit BWPC Bureau of Water Pollution Control (Nevada) CAP Central Arizona Project CCS Carbon Capture and Storage CEC California Energy Commission CEQA California Environmental Quality Act COEC Certificate of Environmental Compatibility CPV concentrating photovoltaic CRIT Colorado River Indian Tribes CSI California Solar Initiative CSP concentrating solar power CURE California Unions for Reliable Energy CWA Clean Water Act DNI direct normal irradiance DOE U.S. Department of Energy DR Demand Response EA Environmental Assessment EIA U.S. Environmental Information Administration EIR environmental impact report (California) EIS environmental impact statement EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPAct Energy Policy Act ESA Endangered Species Act FLPMA Federal Land Policy Management Act GFR grandfathered groundwater rights (Arizona) GIU general industrial use (Arizona) GMA Groundwater Management Act (Arizona) GPM gallons per minute GSF groundwater savings facility (Arizona) GW gigawatt HVS Hualapai Valley Solar LLC IEA International Energy Agency IGCC Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle IGFR irrigation grandfathered groundwater rights (Arizona) iv This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. INA Irrigation Non-Expansion Area (Arizona) ITC investment tax credit kW kilowatt kWh kilowatt-hour LCOE levelized cost of energy MOU memorandum of understanding MW megawatt MWh megawatt-hour NDEP Nevada Division of Environmental Protection NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NOI notice of intent to drill (Arizona) NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory PEC Portfolio Energy Credit (Nevada) PEIS Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement PUC Public Utilities Commission of Nevada PV photovoltaic RAM Renewable Auction Mechanism (California) REAT Renewable Energy Action Team (California) RPS renewable portfolio standard RTEP Regional Transmission Expansion Planning Project RWQCB Regional Water Quality Control Board (California) SA staff assessment (California) SEIA Solar Energy Industries Association SEGS Solar Energy Generating System SWRCB State Water Resources Control Board (California) TEP Tucson Electric Power TES Thermal Electric Storage TWh terawatt-hour USF underground storage facility (Arizona) USGS U.S. Geological Survey WDR waste discharge requirements (California) WECC Western Electricity Coordinating Council WGA Western Governors’ Association WRR water recycling requirements (California) WSWC Western States Water Council v This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Executive Summary Concentrating solar power (CSP) systems utilize the sun’s energy to create heat that is used to generate electrical power. CSP systems in the United States are installed primarily in the Southwest, with 92% of plants that are operational, under construction, or under development located in three western states—Arizona, California, and Nevada. This report provides an overview of CSP development in these states, or the “Southwest” for the purposes of this discussion, with a particular focus on the water supply issues associated with CSP. The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) commissioned staff from the Western States Water Council (WSWC) to collaborate with staff from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to prepare this report. The WGA has long supported the effective management of the West’s water resources, as well as the development of a clean, diverse, reliable, and affordable energy supply consisting of traditional and renewable energy resources. This report is specifically intended to help inform these goals, especially as WGA continues to underwrite a Regional Transmission Expansion Planning project, undertaken by the WSWC and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), to better understand energy development within the existing and future water resource constraints of the West. This report builds upon earlier research conducted by NREL, the University of Colorado- Boulder, and Stanford University