Sacramento OKs 20-megawatt solar power plant

A Spain-based solar company with its U.S. headquarters in West Sacramento last week won approval for a 20-megawatt power plant on Port of West Sacramento property.

The project would be the first developed by OPDE U.S. Corp. in the United States.

Construction on the $125 million West Sacramento project, to be built on a 500-foot-wide strip of land that runs along the west side of the deep-water channel, was expected to begin in July. However, environmental concerns and permitting requirements have set construction back by at least 10 months, to May 2011.

The West Sacramento Planning Commission recently unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the project and determined that a mitigated negative declaration — a limited environmental review — was adequate for the project.

Still, it is not moving forward as quickly as anticipated. It needs additional approvals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and environmental concerns are causing some delays.

For starters, the company must keep construction activities confined to May through September to avoid impacts to the threatened giant garter snake.

"We’re probably not going to be able to start construction until May," said Greg Brehm, director of distributed renewable energy resources for OPDE U.S. Corp.

But Brehm said the project is “still going to get built.”

In addition, nearby residents recently complained that the project would be too visible, Brehm said. OPDE now plans to lower the site level by a foot, which puts more clearance between the solar system’s electronic connections and the flood zone.

"We’re walking a tightrope," Brehm said. "We’ve gone as low as we can go."

Read more in the Sacramento Business Journal.