NextEra Energy LLC, through its subsidiary Genesis Solar, LLC, is undertaking a project to build and operate one of the largest solar energy plants in the United States. The Genesis Solar Energy Project in Riverside, California, consists of two independent solar electric generating facilities that will produce a combined 250 MW of power.

The Genesis Project will produce electrical power using steam turbine generators fed from solar steam generators using a proven, cost-effective technology for utility scale facilities. The solar steam generators receive heated heat-transfer fluid from solar thermal equipment comprised of arrays of parabolic mirrors that collect energy from the sun. Project components include the two power block facilities, onsite groundwater wells for cooling and industrial uses, a transmission line, access road, and natural gas pipeline. This 6.5 mile linear utility corridor will tie into the Blythe Energy Project Transmission Line using existing pole structures and then interconnect with the proposed Colorado River Substation, near Blythe, CA.

Tetra Tech managed the two year permitting process for the Genesis Project, which is located on approximately 1,800 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. To assist the Genesis Project in providing clean, renewable electricity to California’s utilities, Tetra Tech provided the following services:
 

• Managed the Application for Certification (AFC) process through the California Energy Commission (CEC)
• Achieved data adequacy with the CEC in seven weeks
• Coordinated activities and documentation with the CEC and the BLM
• Conducted cultural and biological environmental studies necessary for the CEC and BLM
• Worked with regulatory agencies including the California Department of Fish and Game, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the US Army Corps of Engineers
• Prepared a variety of supporting documents for the AFC

Currently, Tetra Tech is managing the environmental construction compliance phase of the project, including cultural and biological monitoring and surveying and managing compliance issues at the site.  Early construction has begun at the Genesis Project and includes the access road, drainage features, and the creation of a desert tortoise fence around the plant facility.