Courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin, by Alta LeCompte
Some 30 industry and government leaders and academics shared their insights at the second annual Renewable Energy & Clean Technology Conference sponsored by the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce Friday, Oct. 5, at the Las Cruces Convention Center.
“Our goal was to bring New Mexico’s clean energy leaders together for a series of focused discussion on assessing the status of their industry sector, evaluating obstacles and identifying key policy ideas that can and move the sector forward,” state Green Chamber CEO Allan Oliver said following the day-long event. “In our view, we more than met that goal.”
At an expo in conjunction with the conference, local and visiting businesses showcased their renewable energy and clean technology products and services.
Oliver said the conference gave him an opportunity to re-learn the level of deep personal commitment each of these entrepreneurs feel toward their businesses.
He cited the example of a biofuels company CEO who told him she had made new connections that are going to be invaluable to her business and was excited to learn about what advances others in her industry were making.
“I was impressed to see a shared common purpose on building a clean economy,” Oliver said.
Experts tackle energy topics
Michael Carr, deputy assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, started the day with a talk on efforts to accelerate deployment of efficient and renewable energy technologies.
Panelists for sessions throughout the day included senior leadership from Intel, UNIRAC, Array Technologies, Sapphire Energy, Sacred Power, Tres Amigas, Sun Zia, NextERA Energy Resources, DPW, Positive Energy Solar, Affordable Solar, Clean Line Energy Partners, Energy Control Inc., R-Qubed, New Solutions Energy, Kit Carson Electric and PNM, and experts from the state House Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Public Regulation Commission, Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, Energy Minerals and Natural Resources Department, as well as GreenWorks, CCAE, Western Resource Advocates and the Albuquerque Journal.
Topics included clean technology manufacturing in New Mexico, building a clean energy economy, utility scale renewable energy generation, smart grid and biofuels advances and the future of distributed generation.
Panelists explore export future
Representatives of three companies in the business of building transmission lines to export New Mexico’s renewable energy led an afternoon panel that explored the potential economic impact of exporting green energy and looked at obstacles they face.
Former Gov. Toney Anaya, David Getts and Daniel Hodges-Copple – each representing a business developing transmission lines in New Mexico for the export of energy from renewable sources – described their respective projects at a session on the obstacles and opportunities of renewable energy support.
Hodges-Copple of Clean Line Energy Partners said the amount of energy resources in New Mexico far exceeds local demand.
“The primary driver in this part of the country is California,” he said.
He said California is focusing on development of in-state solar. Developers such as Clean Line Energy, which is building a transmission line to deliver power produced by wind to the Golden State, offer that state diversification.
He said California is required by state law to get 33 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020.
The use of more wind will allow for a smoother production curve and ease the integration of renewables into the existing California grid, he said.
Getts of the Sun Zia Southwest Transmission Project said the alternating current Sun Zia can transmit will integrate seamlessly into the existing grid, which moves DC current.
He described the Sun Zia Southwest project as “one, big long transmission project” originating near Socorro, traveling west across the Rio Grande, around Tucson and into central Phoenix, a distance of about 500 miles.
Pointing to one obstacle to exporting renewable energy, he said the company is ending year four in a permitting process and still does not have a definitive route.
The permitting process, which deals with where the lines will be sited, is the most difficult aspect of getting a transmission project done, he said.
“Nobody wants a big, ugly transmission tower in their backyard,” he said. “We care about stakeholders, but you have to put it somewhere.”
While a project is awaiting approval, 100 percent of investors’ money is at risk, he said.
Getts said there’s no guarantee any of the projects on the drawing board will actually be built.
On the plus side, these projects have a potential for enormous economic impact, he said.
He said results of a study by New Mexico State University and the University of Arizona indicate if all proposed projects are completed, they would generate 24,600 AC/AC jobs during the construction phase and 34,000 AC/DC jobs with wages totaling $1.4 billion and $2 billion, respectively.
Getts said the projects would yield fewer permanent jobs, but are expected to lead to the creation of many related businesses that also would also add jobs to the New Mexico economy.
The study projects possible construction jobs in Doña Ana County for renewable generation projects as 1,540 for solar photo-voltaic facilities, 1,160 for solar thermal, 550 for wind and more than 550 for geothermal.
As with transmission projects, the generating facilities would employ far fewer once they became operational.
Anaya said the goal of Tres Amigas $2 billion private sector venture is building a transmission line to unite the three existing grids, one going east, one going west, and one going into Texas.
He said the existing grids come close to each other but don’t connect anywhere.
The Tres Amigas project includes a super station to convert current and act “like a hub or toll booth on a highway.”
He said the primary focus is to the west because that’s where the markets are.
“When Tres Amigas comes on line, the market will theoretically become two countries wide” because it will connect with Canada as well as the U.S., he said “We have a great opportunity in New Mexico to develop wind and solar energy,” he said.
Anaya said the project is due to begin this year with the first phase scheduled for completion in 2017 and the entire project to be finished by 2020.
“The state has to address its intrastate capacity to connect with the collector system,” he said. “That should be part of the master plan. We need a state of New Mexico renewable energy policy.”
He said the Gov. Bill Richardson administration began work on such a policy, but the development has not been completed.
Anaya said the Tres Amigas project is under federal jurisdiction, and was approved “fairly quickly – in about a year and a half.”
“If we had to go through the state process, we would probably have packed up our bags and gone home,” he said. “We have no state policy encouraging renewable energy. We have no over-arching state energy policy.”
He said Tres Amigas is encouraging the state to advance a comprehensive plan that will benefit New Mexico by allowing all the proposed projects to advance.
