CIM Group Invests In Kings County’s Westlands Solar Park
July 3,2014
LOS ANGELES—CIM Group announced this week that it has partnered with Westside Holdings, LLC to invest in Westlands Solar Park – a master planned development in a state competitive renewable energy zone that covers 24,000 acres. That’s over 37 square miles of treeless landscape with little water availability. Laden with selenium and salt from irrigation runoff -it’s a place where nary a critter stirs.
In a word it may be the perfect place to assemble the power plant of the future.
The drainage-impaired ag lands are in Kings County in the Westlands Water District. Westside Holdings has their offices in Visalia California. The two groups announced a joint venture this week but did not offer details.
CIM may be an unfamiliar name but it is one of state’s largest real estate investment firms with billions tied up in commercial property across the US from Manhattan to San Francisco and LA. They own the former Kodak Theater in Hollywood now named the Dolby Theater where the Academy Awards are held.CIM owns some 1.7 million square feet nearby.The urban real estate and infrastructure investment firm,founded in 1994, has over $14.7 billion in assets under management according to their website.
CIM Group through it affiliate, SkyPower is also one of the largest developers of solar energy projects in the world with a portfolio of 1500 mw of solar projects in Canada and a $5 billion project in Africa.
Through several joint ventures SkyPower claims to have 25,000mw of solar projects in the pipeline and existing contracts with utilities worth $4 billion according to their website.
With little future as farm land – Westside Holdings has been working to master plan their land just east of Hwy I-5 since 2009 pushing to get regulators and the utilities to consider this mid-state location astride the state’s major north south transmission line.It is the right place, they argue, to build up to 2,400 MW of photovoltaic power over the next 10 or so years. It would be one of the world’s largest solar farms generating enough power to rival Diablo Power nuclear plant but without the negative baggage. The scale of what could happen at this one location has clearly intrigued the CIM people, a group founded by two former Israeli paratroopers.
City of Anaheim Commits
While the plan to build is phased over a long term – the solar park will get its first project next year at Avenal Cutoff and Ave 25 with phased construction of a 2MW project followed by a 20MW solar farm. The power for the first phase is being bought by the City of Anaheim the city confirmed this week, with the first current to be delivered in September 2015. So says Anaheim Assistant Manager for utilities Steve Sciortino. ”We are really excited about the purchase of what could be even more renewable power coming from the Fresno area.” The city needs 700MW of power to keep the community, including Disneyland, lit up, with demand coming on strong right when the sun shines the most – summer. ”Like all utilities we need to keep buying more renewable power to comply with SB 32 and solar shines brightest in summer – when we need the peaking power.”
To build long term the Westland Solar Park EIR draft will continue to move forward.
No Mitigation Needed
Just where power projects get built in the state has been a thorny issue for years. While some developers favor the sunnier desert area – a number of key environmental groups object. Farm groups on the other hand have raised questions about building utility-size solar on prime Valley ag land. No such worries here. Westlands Solar Park has built a coalition supported by local, statewide and federal environmental interests as well as farming groups. With few issues ,permitting will be quicker,challenges will be nil making financing easier.
One major advocate is Carl Zichella,Director of Western Transmission for the environmental group NRDC. Zichella representing NRDC along with the group Nature Conservancy are among those who have lobbied energy regulators to look at the Westland Solar Park model to build out this energy farm on “arguably the least environmentally sensitive place in the state”and yet creating opportunities “in one of the most economically distressed parts of the state” says Zichella.
Zichella adds that the state will need to approve more transmission coming from this area because this energy crossroads is already clogged.
With the news that CIM Group will be investing in the project Zichella says“this substantial financial backing is very big step toward making this happen.” He says he and others have been having conversations with the Brown administration who may also weigh in to support the Westlands Solar Park plan.
Zichella says he believes with a major backer in place another new trunk line up the spine of the westside could encourage development since power can be shipped off.
While the new partnership may set the stage – it will be the major players like SunPower and First Solar for example who will build the plants as they already doing nearby. PGE is erecting a local substation on the same Avenal Cutoff this summer.
For eastside Valley residents the Avenal Cutoff from NAS Lemoore is a favorite back road to the coast enabling you to watch the progress of solar panel construction over coming years as you head to the beach to cool off.