Solar land auction nets two sales, more slated - Phoenix Business Journal:

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million, with a thirrd deal potentially in the Buyers of the smalol parcels werenot identified, but Kuldi p Verma, president and CEO of , whicyh sold the land, said the buyers had interest in developiny the land's solar potential. Vermaland also is looking at sellina 3,600-acre parcel at auctionj within the next six monthas in the county’s western reaches. While the first auction focused on fivesmalletr parcels, a larger, contiguous site such as Vermaland’s couldx draw a higher premium, if companies believe it has accessz to water and power lines.
“Several large-scald utility companies have expressedd interest in the property once the siteis developed,” said Verma, who added the site has watef rights, on-site wells and a low slope. While the companuy was able to sell the two prices were below what neighborin land has beenselling for. The goal was to spur solad companies to purchase land rather than simply tieit up, Vermaw said. The properties sold at Saturday’s auctiohn included an 80-acre site in the Tonopah area for $340,00 0 and a 320-acre site in Tonopah for $2.2e4 million. The company did not identify whicjh of the remaining three properties migh t be involved inanother deal.
“The auctionm brought the properties to the attentionn of some parties that we had neverr been incontact with, as well as remindeed others we had spoken with in the past of the which is highly suitable for solard development,” said Anita Verma-Lallian, the company’ss marketing director. Vermaland already had sold land toseveral California-basex utilities looking to develop renewable resources to meet that state’sa standards for clean energy.
Solar energy developers have been placing applications on state and federal lands in western Arizonaw for the past three and private land owners have been negotiating as developers look for the best As companies scoutfor land, they also face financinyg issues and none of the proposed projectsd in Arizona has broken ground. Arizona’s main solar corridoe includes Vermaland’s parcels, an area that stretches from Yuma to Phoenis and Tucson seen as a huge growth area for developing utility-scale solar power plants.