Solar facility is right choice, with safeguards

Rancho Viejo has proposed an 800-acre solar facility on private land bordered by Eldorado and Rancho San Marcos. It is 1½ miles from any homes, and includes 96 megawatts of solar panels and 48 megawatts of battery storage. Rancho Viejo has partnered with AES Corporation to pursue permitting from Santa Fe County.

This development is close to existing PNM power lines, and hopefully PNM won’t drag its feet on the needed connection. Solar collectors on this scale are a good option for Santa Fe, where the wind is not as persistent as on the eastern plains of New Mexico. The connection to nearby high voltage power lines would minimize transmission losses.

Santa Fe County, which has limited staff with the appropriate expertise to evaluate a large solar/ storage project, has hired Terracon Consultants of Albuquerque to provide input to the county Planning Commission.

One of the most common problems with lithium-ion battery storage is overheating. This was a common problem in laptops not many years ago, and it continues to be a problem with large energy storage systems. Continued advances in battery design are reducing the risk, but an explosion and fire from one battery can damage other batteries, and result in fire that requires special retardants.

As was discovered at Cannon Air Force Base recently, fire control chemicals can severely damage groundwater. AES selection of fire retardants needs to include automated protection systems that avoid problematic chemical retardants. Experience by Kit Carson Electric in addressing any potential fires at two solar sites in Taos County should also be tapped.

The grasslands and piñon-juniper forest at this elevation are frequently very dry, and thus any automated systems and fire isolation strategies may not always be sufficient on a windy day.

The county needs to be assured that it has the capacity and resources to quickly control escaped fires. AES could have appropriate on-site control chemicals for use by county firefighters. No on-site water is planned, so the county needs to assess a worst-case need for water to prevent fire spread outside the facility.

We support this proposal’s inclusion of storage at the solar facility, as we need nighttime renewable energy in addition to daytime solar. Should it be approved, it will join even larger solar projects proposed for sites in Bernalillo County and San Juan County.

Together they point to a future where renewable energy can be counted on for a majority of our electricity needs in New Mexico.