VEGA SES 6 Solar and Battery Storage Project

VEGA SES 6 Solar and Battery Storage Project

The proposed project involves the construction and operation of an 80 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar facility with an integrated 160 MW battery storage system (BESS) on approximately 320 acres of privately-owned land. The proposed VEGA 6 project would be comprised of solar PV arrays panels, an on-site substation, BESS, gen-tie line, inverters, transformers, underground electrical cables, and access roads. The proposed gen-tie line would be approximately 4-miles long and would connect to the Imperial Irrigation District’s (IID) existing 161 kV “L” transmission line. The entire gen-tie route would be on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The project applicant has filed a right-of-way grant application with the BLM for a permit to construct, operate, and maintain the gen-tie line. Energy generated by the VEGA 6 project will be transmitted to IID’s existing 161 kV “L” Line, with ultimate delivery to IID’s Ramon Substation in Riverside County. IID has identified that upgrades to the Ramon Substation will be required in order to accommodate several planned utility-scale projects, including the VEGA 6 project. Upgrades to the Ramon Substation would involve expansion of an approximately 4-acre area immediately adjacent to the existing substation. The proposed upgrades to the Ramon Substation are necessary infrastructure improvements to accommodate several planned utility-scale projects, including the VEGA 6 project, to connect to the IID grid. Because it is a necessary infrastructure improvement to allow the VEGA 6 project to connect to the IID grid, the Ramon Substation expansion is considered a connected project for the purposes of CEQA review.

Imperial, Riverside

Countywide, Unincorporated

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Inland Deserts Region 6 (CDFW), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Energy Commission, California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Colorado River Basin Region 7 (RWQCB), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights, California Department of Transportation, District 11 (DOT)

California Department of Transportation, District 11 (DOT)

Power:Solar (Megawatts 80)

General Plan Amendment, Rezone, Use Permit

Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Cumulative Effects, Drainage/Absorption, Energy, Flood Plain/Flooding, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Growth Inducement, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources, Noise, Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Solid Waste, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Vegetation, Wildfire