Developer Projections for Proposed Facilities

Solar developers are also predicting the employment impacts of their proposed facilities. Employment projections are available from a variety of sources, including developer web sites, facility Applications for Certification (AFCs), Environmental Impact Statements, and California Energy Commission Final Staff Assessments. Table 1 summarizes the findings for 14 proposed facilities, including three photovoltaic (PV) facilities.

The concentrating solar power (CSP) facilities reviewed for this study expect to create 0.83 to 4.65 peak construction jobs per megawatt (MW). Generally, this figure declines slightly as the size of the facility increases. CSP facilities are expected to create 0.18 to 0.34 operation and maintenance (O&M) jobs per MW. Nevada Solar One had greater employment impacts during both construction and operation than are predicted for any of these facilities. PV facilities are expected to create 0.91 to 1.3 peak construction jobs per MW and 0.05 to 0.09 operation and maintenance jobs per MW.

Table 1 Comparison of projected employment impacts for 14 proposed facilities.
Project Name Technology MW Construction jobs (peak) Construction jobs/MW O&M jobs O&M jobs/MW
Rice Solar Energy Project CSP 150 438 2.92 47 0.31
Beacon Solar Energy Project CSP 250 836 3.34 66 0.26
Abengoa Mojave Solar Project CSP 250 1162 4.65 68 0.27
Solar Millennium Ridgecrest CSP 250 633 2.53 84 0.34
Genesis Solar CSP 250 1085 4.34 45 0.18
Agua Caliente (if built with CSP) CSP 280 1000 3.57 50 0.18
Solar Partners Ivanpah SEGS CSP 400 637 1.59 90 0.23
Solar Millennium Palen CSP 484 1141 2.36 134 0.28
Imperial Valley Solar Project (Formerly SES Solar Two Project) CSP 750 731 0.97 164 0.22
Calico Solar Project (Formerly SES Solar One Project) CSP 850 703 0.83 180 0.21
Solar Millennium Blythe CSP 1000 1000 1 221 0.22
Agua Caliente (if built with PV) PV 330 300-400 0.91-1.21 15-20 0.05-0.06
Lucerne Valley Solar Project PV 45 45 1 3 0.07
Solar Ranch One PV 230 300 1.3 20

0.09

Nevada Solar One CSP 64 800-1300 12.5-20.31 28-32 0.44-0.5

It is interesting to compare the results of the funded research studies with the developer predictions. Unfortunately, differences in units prevent a comparison of construction job creation. Considering operation and maintenance jobs, the four research studies reviewed for this analysis generally predict more job creation per MW of nameplate capacity than do the solar developers. Study estimates are in line with the actual number of operation and maintenance jobs created by Nevada Solar One. Map 1 shows predicted job impacts for five proposed CSP facilities.

Map 1  Predicted Job Creation for Five Proposed CSP Facilities.