Group hopes to build 75-megawatt solar park near Cle Elum

With its rainy reputation, Washington doesn't seem like the place to build the world's biggest solar photovoltaic power plant.

But the sun shines 300 days a year on the Central Washington town of Cle Elum, where developers announced plans Thursday for a 75-megawatt "solar park" they say could be up and running in about 18 months.

Generous tax breaks and a citizen initiative that requires utilities to get some of their power from renewable sources also add to Washington's appeal, said Howard Trott, the Kirkland man who directs Teanaway Solar Reserve. The company has already leased 400 acres of land where the power plant will be built if it gets the OK from Kittitas County — and proves economically viable.

The "solar park" would produce enough electricity for 45,000 homes, and no greenhouse gases, Trott said.

"If we can do this in the Pacific Northwest, we are hopeful this will launch other large-scale solar projects around the U.S.," said Trott, who for 22 years managed investments for Seattle telecom billionaire Craig McCaw.

Trott said McCaw is not backing the project. He would not identify the investors who are putting up more than $100 million to build the plant, except to say that some are local.

"As a privately held company, we are able to move quickly and have the resources to get this done," he said.

The company also hopes to lure a solar-panel maker to Cle Elum, to produce the 400,000 panels required for the array. The manufacturing plant could also sell solar panels to homeowners, whose interest in the technology is growing as a result of new tax incentives.

Though neither Trott nor his recently formed company has a track record in energy production, their plan was enthusiastically endorsed by a wide range of officials, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who joined in the announcement.

Cantwell worked last year to extend federal tax incentives for clean-energy projects.

"Now, thanks in part to that legislation, we're seeing this project get off the ground," she said. "This ... will create construction and manufacturing jobs, bring hundreds of millions of investment dollars into Central Washington, and generate fuel- and emissions-free electricity for our citizens."

Trott estimates that the project will create hundreds of jobs.

Kittitas County Commissioner Paul Jewell pointed out that alternative-energy projects are already operating in the area, including several wind farms and a small solar plant owned by Puget Sound Energy.

"We're going to have to look at what impact a solar facility this size will have," Jewell said. "But projects like this certainly fit well with my vision for the future economy of Kittitas County."

Washington allows alternative-energy developers to choose between two routes of approval: state or local. Teanaway Solar Resources chose the local option, which means the project will be reviewed by Kittitas County. The county will require an environmental-impact analysis and will hold public hearings on the proposal, Jewell said.

Trott estimated the county review will take about six months. Construction would take about a year.

"We don't see anything that's going to slow us down," he said.

The site is close to major transmission lines, which would make it easier to connect the plant to the regional power grid, Trott said. The land, which lies near the entrance to the scenic Teanaway Valley, has been logged repeatedly, but is screened by a surrounding Ponderosa pine forest.

"Our intent is that you will not see this thing unless you're flying over it," Trott said.

Whether and how the project will pencil out financially remains a major unknown.

Several power plants around the world concentrate solar energy to heat water and produce electricity via steam generators. But photovoltaic systems, which directly convert sunlight into energy, have been slower to develop — largely because of high costs.

Currently, the biggest is a 60-megawatt plant in Spain, according to worldofrenewables.com. An average coal-fired plant produces 1,200 megawatts.

The cost of photovoltaic technology has been dropping, and several major plants are planned in California.

The technology is fairly easy to scale up, Trott said. Purchasing solar panels in bulk will earn the company a price break, and it's even possible the proposed manufacturing plant in Cle Elum could get its silicon from a company in Moses Lake, he added.

Trott wouldn't estimate what the price of the solar power might be. The company has discussed the project with Puget Sound Energy and other utilities, but doesn't yet have any agreements to sell the power it produces.

It's tough for solar power to compete with the region's cheap hydropower without financial breaks, said Tony Usibelli, director of the energy policy at the newly created Washington Department of Commerce.

The state offers a sales-tax exemption for renewable-energy equipment and a reduced business-tax rate. One of the most powerful incentives is the requirement, approved by voters in 2006, that major utilities ratchet up the amount of power they get from renewable sources, reaching 15 percent by 2020.

"Obviously, the idea is that tax breaks can drive technology ... and over time you hope you're able to say: This is now a commercially competitive technology," Usibelli said.

Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton@seattletimes.com