Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 2 Project Description 2.1 Project Location Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) is proposing to construct and operate the Solano 4 Wind Project (project). The project would involve: • decommissioning of existing wind turbine generators (WTGs); • construction of new, more technologically advanced WTGs, an associated electrical collection system, and access roads, along with minor upgrades to the existing Russell Substation; and • operation and maintenance of the new WTGs. The project site is located within the Solano County Wind Resource Area (WRA) (formerly known as the Montezuma Hills Wind Resource Area or MHWRA) in southern Solano County. The WRA lies north of the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and southwest of the city of Rio Vista (Exhibit 2-1). The project site comprises two geographically distinct areas owned by SMUD, Solano 4 East and Solano 4 West, and the collection and home run lines, which total 2,549 acres. The project proposes to repower facilities in both project subareas. Solano 4 East is approximately 3.5 miles southwest of Rio Vista and Solano 4 West is adjacent to the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta near the town of Collinsville (Exhibit 2-2). State Route (SR) 12 provides regional access to the project area. Montezuma Hills Road and Birds Landing Road provide local access to Solano 4 East, while Collinsville Road and Shiloh Road provide local access to Solano 4 West. 2.2 Project Background and History California’s energy supply is continually evolving as a result of state mandates to address climate change. SMUD has designed its current plans relative to the Renewables Portfolio Standard1 to meet the directive by its Board of Directors to use dependable renewable resources to meet 50 percent of SMUD’s electrical load by 2030. This goal is consistent with Senate Bill 350, which was signed into law in 2015. The recently enacted Senate Bill 100 moved up the deadline for reaching the 50 percent milestone to 2026, stepping to 60 percent by 2030. The law also states that renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources are to supply 100 percent of retail sales of electricity by 2045. 1 California Renewables Portfolio Standard program required the California Public Utilities Commission to establish and implement a renewable portfolio standard that directed nonpublic electric service providers to increase procurement from eligible renewable energy resources by at least 1 percent of their retail sales annually, until they reached 20 percent by 2010. Page 2-1 Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 Exhibit 2-1 Regional Location Map Page 2-2 Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 Exhibit 2-2 Project Site Map Source: Data provided by SMUD in 2018 Page 2-3 Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 This page intentionally left blank Page 2-4 Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 Current projections for SMUD’s energy portfolio indicate that through a combination of existing renewable energy projects, existing power-purchase agreements, and banked renewable-energy credits, SMUD will achieve compliance with the state mandates through 2025. Beyond this date, however, SMUD will need new resources to achieve the 2045 goal. SMUD’s goal is to ensure that sufficient economically viable, renewable energy, primarily in the form of wind and solar energy, is always on the planning horizon. To meet this goal, SMUD seeks either to own and operate its own renewable-energy facilities or to enter into power-purchase agreements with independent power producers. Rapid technological advancements in the past decade allow SMUD to evaluate the economics of its wind and solar energy projects. Specifically, SMUD can determine whether to continue operating its existing facilities, or to repower the project sites by replacing facilities with new, more advanced technologies that would harvest more energy on the same plot of land. To this end, SMUD’s Resource Planning Coordination Committee has authorized staff to repower the Solano 4 East and Solano 4 West subareas, essentially replacing existing wind turbines with newer models. The project area has a long and continued history of farming and ranching. Eight separate wind energy facilities currently operate in the WRA (Table 2-1).The wind energy facilities listed in Table 2-1 occupy approximately 88 percent of the WRA’s acreage, and 970 WTGs operate there. Table 2-1 Operating Wind Energy Facilities in the Solano County Wind Resource Area Generating Maximum Capacity Number of Height of Name and (Operator) (MW) WTGs WTGs (feet) Shiloh I (Avangrid) 36 24 390 Shiloh II (EDF) 66 33 413 Shiloh III (EDF) 94.3 46 410 Shiloh IV (EDF) 92.3 45 410 EDF Renewable V (EDF) – – – Labrisa (EDF) 9 6 340 High Winds (NextEra) 162 90 350 Montezuma I (NextEra) 37 16 415 Montezuma II (NextEra) 78 34 428 Solano Wind Project Phases 1, 2, and 3 (SMUD) 230 107 410 Notes: MW = megawatts; WTG = wind turbine generator The maximum height of a WTG is equivalent to the highest point of turbine blade tips above ground level. Source: USGS 2019 The WRA is home to the first three developmental phases of SMUD’s overall Solano Wind Project, which are currently operational. Phase 1, a 15-megawatt (MW) asset, was repowered from an earlier wind project into its current configuration in 2003–2004; Phase Page 2-5 Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 2, an 87 MW asset, was commissioned in two stages between May 2006 and December 2007; and Phase 3, a 128 MW asset, was commissioned in May 2012. With a total of 107 WTGs ranging in size from 660 kilowatts (kW) to 3.0 MW, the overall Solano Wind Project currently has a total site rated capacity of 230 MW. The proposed project would have a net energy production capacity of up to 91 MW, resulting in a net increase in capacity of the overall Solano Wind Project from 230 MW to 306 MW (factoring in the elimination of 15 MW from the current turbines). Each phase has undergone environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Table 2-2 summarizes the history of CEQA review for the first three phases of the Solano Wind Project. Table 2-2 History of CEQA Review for Previous Phases of the Solano Wind Project Release Date CEQA Review Document Phases 1 and 2 December 1993 Final EIR July 2002 Supplemental Final EIR August 2003 Addendum to the Supplemental EIR February 2004 Supplemental Final EIR #2 July 2011 Addendum to Supplemental Final EIR #2 Phase 3 September 2007 Draft EIR October 2009 Recirculated Draft EIR February 2010 Recirculated Final EIR Notes: CEQA = California Environmental Quality Act; EIR = environmental impact report Source: Data compiled by AECOM in 2019 2.3 Project Objectives The Solano 4 Wind Project would more fully develop the renewable wind energy resources to generate and deliver the maximum feasible quantity of renewable energy to the electric grid, to achieve the objectives listed below. • Contribute to a diversified energy portfolio that will aid in the continued improvement of air quality in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin by decreasing reliance on fossil fuel combustion for the generation of electricity, and reduce SMUD’s exposure to price volatility associated with electricity and natural gas. • Assist SMUD in achieving the Board of Directors’ directive of using dependable renewable resources to meet SMUD’s renewable portfolio standards (RPS) obligations. This goal is consistent with Senate Bill 100, which was enacted in 2018. Page 2-6 Solano 4 Wind Project EIR July 2019 • Develop an economically feasible wind project that will deliver a reliable supply of up to 91 MW of electrical capacity at the point of interconnection with the grid managed by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). • Accommodate the long-term viability of agricultural use within the Montezuma Hills. 2.4 Project Site and Surrounding Area 2.4.1 Wind Resource Area (formerly MHWRA) The Solano County Wind Turbine Siting Plan and Environmental Impact Report (Siting Plan) (Solano County 1987) designated the WRA as suitable for wind energy development, based on wind monitoring and assessment studies prepared in the late 1970s and 1980s by the California Energy Commission, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. With adoption of the Solano County General Plan in 2008, the Siting Plan is no longer in effect and the 2008 Solano County General Plan describes wind resources areas of the County as located in the Collinsville–Montezuma Hills south of SR 12. The County defers to the California Energy Commission to define areas suitable for commercial wind energy. The California Energy Commission’s map of operational wind projects in the Solano Wind Resource Area (CEC 2018) describes the project site and surrounding area as having high sustainable winds suitable for wind energy. 2.4.2 Topography and Natural Habitat The WRA consists of a series of gently rolling hills of similar texture and size. The hills crest at a relatively constant elevation, generally 150–250 feet above mean sea level. Valleys in the project area transition to sloped hillsides with relatively flat ridgelines. The vegetation in the WRA and the project area is generally monotypic (annual grassland or dryland farming) and is mostly treeless. The few trees in the Montezuma Hills are mostly nonnative and are associated with rural farmsteads. Permanent and seasonal wetlands occur on the project lands and adjacent to Suisun Marsh; some of the land has been reclaimed with levees. Vegetation is primarily pasture and grain crops, with intermittent wetland swales and sporadic eucalyptus windbreaks. Varied shrub vegetation is present only in the drainage swales and around existing and abandoned settlements.