Arizona solar land in flux

Land purchases destined for solar energy developments in Arizona are in a state of flux, driven by access to financing for utilities looking for smaller-scale production sites.

While the land rush that started a few years ago is abating, smaller parcels are becoming more popular for solar projects because they give developers the ability to get sites up and running more quickly — a factor that is paramount as new renewable energy standards loom.

“It definitely cycles where we’ll have a variety of interest,” said Raymond Moore, project leader in the sales and commercial leasing office at the Arizona State Land Department. “We’ve had much more interest in photovoltaics lately.”

The changes are being spurred by utilities looking more at PV projects because of their decreasing cost and because they can be built on smaller parcels. Arizona Public Service Co. recently drew up a list of finalists for a proposed 25-megawatt PV power plant. APS officials said they received more than 50 applications, but would not comment on who submitted them.

Brent Moser, executive vice president of Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial, a Phoenix real estate firm, said the growth of land purchases intended for solar projects will continue as the number of developers likely to get financing grows.

“It seems like there are a lot more deals out there, and a lot more deals that are likely to come through,” he said.

Financing has been a key component in the purchasing of land for solar projects. When Abengoa Solar announced plans to build its Solana Generating Station, a 280-megawatt concentrated solar power plant near Gila Bend, the state’s western region already was seeing a land rush driven by large-scale developers.

Read the full story in the Phoenix Business Journal.