Rocky Point Talk archive

Giant Solar project , El Homeport back from the dead and a 4 lane toll road to the border!

Started by Old55 · Jan 22, 2022 · 59 replies
Old55
Next thing we will hear Meatloaf will be headlining Boomerfest 2 sponsored by Durvet Ivermectin Horse Paste ! https://sonorastar.com/2022/01/19/grandes-proyectos-de-infraestructura-para-puerto-penasco-el-destino-turistico-mas-importante-del-noroeste-de-mexico/
MIRAMAR
Here are the details on solar https://rockypoint360.com/solar-park-near-puerto-penasco-to-be-largest-in-latin-america/
Jungle Jim
Just wait till the tree huggers, wimps and whiners get a whiff of this not to be ever developed fiasco.

That area south east of PP is some of the last unaltered habitat of the endangered Flat-Tailed Horned Lizard, Phrynosoma mcallii.

Almost every attempt to develop anything within the range of that Horny Toad has met with a dead end. Even here in Yuma anything ever planned in the last twenty years that even borders their habitat is automatically toast to include the Marine Corps base MCAS Yuma. If the required environmental impact teams even spot one of those lizards you can shit can any plans.

They are actually quite common although rarely seen on the sandy flats behind the beaches from Bahia San Jorge on south east to Puerto Lobos. Their actual numbers can be estimated by their poop. They only eat ants and can't digest the hard shelled skins so leave black one inch long lozenge shaped poops that contain 100% ant skeletons that lie scattered around their home habitat. They are the only lizards beside the Fringe-Toed Sand Lizard that inhabit the huge barren dunes of the Desierto Altar from the border down to Puerto Lobos.

They prefer the soft blow sand where they seem to "swim" into the drifts by swinging their heads back and forth while pushing along with their back legs. They are always common where the Giant Kangaroo Rats have colonies as they use the big openings of their burrows as easy escape form predators and the heat.

Still waiting for the dredging to begin at "El Home Port" for those cruise liners to tie up to the dock rather than shuttle passengers all day long.

JJ
Last edited: Jan 23, 2022 at 8:57 PM
MIRAMAR
I wonder who is, going to clean all those panels -especially after we get a storm like we had on New Years Eve!
Jungle Jim
The same guys that keep the windows on the Mayan Palace so sparkling clean!

By the way whatever happened to the "largest-to-be-in-Latin-America wind farm plans in the same area as reported in detail by Jerry last year?

Jerry??

JJ
Old55
Jungle Jim said:

The same guys that keep the windows on the Mayan Palace so sparkling clean!

By the way whatever happened to the "largest-to-be-in-Latin-America wind farm plans in the same area as reported in detail by Jerry last year?

Jerry??

JJ

Jj the Spanish solar farms ( Acciona Energía) are esting their lunch.They cant compete. Sad to say the new federal plan favors CFE overr private companies and that might get us a shiny new nuclear power plant .
joester
We drive by the Townsite Solar project in Boulder City, Nevada quite often. The world needs more successful solar projects like that one. I have my doubts about the solar project mentioned above ever being completed. I do expect some land may be cleared, and then a few people will pocket some money and disappear, then nothing. SOS.
Old55
Interesting https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/spotlight-cfes-pilot-green-hydrogen-plan
joanC
Although they advertise 1000 mwh, the maximum it can ever produce is 26%, or 260 mwh, which is higher than anything north of latitude 31.
Jungle Jim
You are spot on Joester.....

The land cleared and leveled to sanitary conditions less the sand hummocks, native vegetation and animals. The then barren ground grided off, a few thousand wood stakes with bright colored ribbons that become termite fodder after a few rains. Nice graded arrow straight dirt roads that kind of disappear after more rains and blow sand accumulation. Complete blight of noxious non-native weeds that offer nothing to the original inhabitants that survived quite well for thousands of years. Bye bye the Mexican Cameleon and Lararto de las Dunas as well as Senior Giant Kangaroo Rat and Seniorita Silky Pocket Mouse. No mas Monkey Faced Grasshoppers? We don't need no stinking hoppers anyway.

Oh well, we will be out there pulling up the stakes for kindling in our fire pit in Mirador.

JJ
Last edited: Jan 29, 2022 at 8:58 PM
Old55
Jungle Jim said:

You are spot on Joester.....

The land cleared and leveled to sanitary conditions less the sand hummocks, native vegetation and animals. The then barren ground grided off, a few thousand wood stakes with bright colored ribbons that become termite fodder after a few rains. Nice graded arrow straight dirt roads that kind of disappear after more rains and blow sand accumulation. Complete blight of noxious non-native weeds that offer nothing to the original inhabitants that survived quite well for thousands of years. Bye bye the Mexican Cameleon and Lararto de las Dunas as well as Senior Giant Kangaroo Rat and Seniorita Silky Pocket Mouse. No mas Monkey Faced Grasshoppers? We don't need no stinking hoppers anyway.

Oh well, we will be out there pulling up the stakes for kindling in our fire pit in Mirador.

JJ

chromated copper arsenate treated stakes makes Smores taste funny
dirtsurfer
Jungle Jim said:

You are spot on Joester.....

The land cleared and leveled to sanitary conditions less the sand hummocks, native vegetation and animals. The then barren ground grided off, a few thousand wood stakes with bright colored ribbons that become termite fodder after a few rains. Nice graded arrow straight dirt roads that kind of disappear after more rains and blow sand accumulation. Complete blight of noxious non-native weeds that offer nothing to the original inhabitants that survived quite well for thousands of years. Bye bye the Mexican Cameleon and Lararto de las Dunas as well as Senior Giant Kangaroo Rat and Seniorita Silky Pocket Mouse. No mas Monkey Faced Grasshoppers? We don't need no stinking hoppers anyway.

Oh well, we will be out there pulling up the stakes for kindling in our fire pit in Mirador.

JJ

Pre-riding the Baja 1000 once, we stopped and spent the night in San Juanico-Scorpion Bay to the Americans. I was shocked to see a fairly large wind farm that provided electricity to this remote small place. This was about 10 years ago.

In Arizona, The Navajos, who have now lost two coal fired plants and the resultant employment and income have recently signed deals with SRP to install large PV & wind electrical generating stations. This I view as positive as they have a lot of barren land, a lot of sun and a lot of wind.
dirtsurfer
Old55 said:

Jj the Spanish solar farms ( Acciona Energía) are esting their lunch.They cant compete. Sad to say the new federal plan favors CFE overr private companies and that might get us a shiny new nuclear power plant .

One of my ideas many years ago was to lease cheap land in the Gila Bend area, install my own solar farm and then sell the power back to the utilities. Great idea that churned profits except it is against the law to become your own utility in Arizona and the corrupt Arizona Corporation Committee keeps reducing the net-metering payments from utilities to rooftop producers. I dream of a day when we all can cut the electrical utilities loose, produce & store all the power we need at home and on our buildings and flip a bird to using anyone’s electricity except what you produce yourself.
Old55
Looking bad again for El Homeport as all the money going to zguayman and the highway heading east https://www.azpm.org/p/headlines/2022/2/21/207198-amlo-roughly-250m-in-port-road-projects-on-tap-to-aid-guaymas/
Old55
Wow…wrong again the President of Mexico is on board ! https://proyectopuente.com.mx/2022/05/24/con-apoyo-de-amlo-el-gobierno-de-sonora-concluira-obra-de-home-port-en-puerto-penasco/
mondone
Sonora solar plant's transmission line gets environmental approval (mexiconewsdaily.com)
Jungle Jim
He Jerry,

I wonder where exactly will that solar field be located?

The rendition does not look like any of the desert landscape around PP.

JJ
wildtoucan
Is big and out by the new airport
Jungle Jim
Which means the only kidding grounds for the Sonoran Pronghorn known in Mexico.

Oh well so much for "environmentally friendly".
richwi
I thought the pic in the article was a rendering but apparently it’s real. We live in Playa Encanto so it’s a short drive so we de going over today to take a look. It’s been a few months since we have gone over to take a peek.
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/sonora-solar-transmission-line-approval/
randy and patty
The pic looks real but I agree with JJ. Doesn’t look like the landscape out that way.
golfandswiminrp
And a 4-lane highway to reduce the commute from PHX to 3hrs! Would be great if we can do all of this - this decade :-)
MIRAMAR
They added very high end energy lines from the airport to the bypass road.
mondone
https://nocamels.com/2023/01/israel-to-build-5-5b-desalination-plant-for-arizona/
Idyllwild
mondone said:

I don’t immediately see where Arizona approved this.
Jungle Jim
And this pipeline full of fresh water will go from PP to where in AZ? To a reservoir that dos not even exist? The only so-called reservoirs are just water behind a few dams along the Colorado River which just happen to be quite distant from the border.

Once the tree huggers get wind of it consider it all just a fart in a windstorm.

JJ
SunDevil
All wind and solar needs to be halted for the ramp up of nuclear fusion. Yes it is probably 10 years away but the environment needs to stop being destroyed in the name of green energy
Idyllwild
SunDevil said:

All wind and solar needs to be halted for the ramp up of nuclear fusion. Yes it is probably 10 years away but the environment needs to stop being destroyed in the name of green energy

Nuclear fusion as a utility power source is 30 to 50 or more years away. I have about 100 scientific publications with the word nuclear in the title.
richwi
Idyllwild said:

Nuclear fusion as a utility power source is 30 to 50 or more years away. I have about 100 scientific publications with the word nuclear in the title.

I agree. I wish fusion power plants were 10 years away but it’s unfortunately going to be a lot longer.
Idyllwild
richwi said:

I agree. I wish fusion power plants were 10 years away but it’s unfortunately going to be a lot longer.

And there is no guarantee it will eve happen. The laser inertial confinement approach that Livermore has been working on for 30 years has no path forward as a practical power source. Really intractable problems such as neutron embrittlement might keep it out of reach.
Jungle Jim
Just read in our local rag, The Yuma Sun, that six endangered Sonoran Pronghorns were "returned to Mexico". "The antelope were removed from the Cabeza Prieta semi-captive breeding pen and transported to Sonora's El Pinacate Biosphere Reserve where they remained in a holding pen until successfully adapted to the environment on Jan 10, 2023".

All soon to enjoy the new worlds largest solar array near PP.

Wadda wonderment!
Old55
Big desert down that way JJ. old mexican rancher with a huge isolated property east of ejido Juan Alvarez that hosts Borrego cimarrón hunters said their are plenty on the flats near him.Wealthy guy that sure loved hunting.
richwi
We went out to the solar farm yesterday and drove all the way to the airport (about 4 miles off the Caborca Hwy). It truly is unreal. I tried to get some pics but wasn’t up high enough to get a good perspective. There are thousands of solar panels. I tried to attach a pic but keep getting “sever error try again later”
Old55
Yep and just the first phase.I gotta believe the desal plan is connected.Such a huge energy need and all.
Jungle Jim
Not to mention windmills.
corndog
Old55 said:

Yep and just the first phase.I gotta believe the desal plan is connected.Such a huge energy need and all.

That's not going to happen.. https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1837594/sonora-accuses-desalination-company-lack-ethics-governor-says-it-has-made-no
Last edited: Feb 14, 2023 at 7:13 PM
corndog
https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/water-wars/desalination-plant-sonora-governor-alfonso-durazo-lack-ethics/75-d478b85d-e9bd-4ebb-bfaf-13752f4bcc7d
Old55
corndog said:

Yep my inital take too but I think we are wrong. The governor notes the plant in the end is a federal issue and the president will make the call.The president overrode regional officails on the train and will on this too according to politico nerd friend from Hermosillo. The governor in the open is simply saying he isn't a cheap date!
joanC
If you get more experience living in Mx, you will learn that Alfonso's position is quite typical in these parts. Agree to cooperate/sell/develop at the start of a project, and if it catches on, throw water on it to get a better deal, a big payday, etc. Research why there are so many high rise skeletons abandoned everywhere you look.
joanC
If by chance Alfonso is saying truth, it's unfathomable some operation out of Israel would mislead or act unethically...how could that happen?
Jungle Jim
And who taught the Mafia the trade?

Money and whores have always made the world go round.
Old55
joanC said:

If by chance Alfonso is saying truth, it's unfathomable some operation out of Israel would mislead or act unethically...how could that happen?

It really is a bullshit plan.The original one is way better.
Old55
joanC said:

If by chance Alfonso is saying truth, it's unfathomable some operation out of Israel would mislead or act unethically...how could that happen?

https://www.timesofisrael.com/expose-unmasks-israel-led-disinformation-team-that-meddled-in-dozens-of-elections/. They will be hard to stop
Old55
The president is coming tomorrow to see the solar project!
Jungle Jim
With all of that bare ground under the solar panels they could raise the Giant Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys deserti by the hundreds of thousands. The area they are clearing is already inhabited by them. They need little or no maintenance other than their native food plants that grows there in abundance.

They could be sold off of food carts in the Malecon roasted on a stick and dusted with chili powder as they do in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. The local "rat on a stick" there is the domestic Guinea Pig locally known a "cui" very popular and quite tasty as I have eaten many of them.

I have not yet had the "K-Rat on a stick" but I'm certain they are dee-licious as they were the most popular big game animal hunted by the local digger injuns everywhere they they coexisted.
Old55
Jungle Jim said:

With all of that bare ground under the solar panels they could raise the Giant Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys deserti by the hundreds of thousands. The area they are clearing is already inhabited by them. They need little or no maintenance other than their native food plants that grows there in abundance.

They could be sold off of food carts in the Malecon roasted on a stick and dusted with chili powder as they do in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia. The local "rat on a stick" there is the domestic Guinea Pig locally known a "cui" very popular and quite tasty as I have eaten many of them.

I have not yet had the "K-Rat on a stick" but I'm certain they are dee-licious as they were the most popular big game animal hunted by the local digger injuns everywhere they they coexisted.

Last time I was in Cairo I ate one of those 1 euro roast pigeons …. rat on a stick for me for sure over that thing
Old55
https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1756731/land-sonoran-solar-plant-donated-businessman-links-amlos some background on the players….it doesnt get any bigger in Mexico.
randy and patty
https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/cfe-announces-sonora-baja-california-natural-gas-pipeline-project/. Hope they can bring some into town. NG should be less caro than propane.
joanC
LOL...if NG ever reaches Penasco it could be fun ( dangerous) teaching our local highly skilled PVC "glue it and stick it " crew that NG is not water or sewer.
CheddarBob
joanC said:

LOL...if NG ever reaches Penasco it could be fun ( dangerous) teaching our local highly skilled PVC "glue it and stick it " crew that NG is not water or sewer.

Or the current copper and solder joints on LP lines. I would hope they used silver solder 15% since it can hold up to 400 PSI on refrigeration piping.
randy and patty
NG runs at 2 lb max in the US but all the existing LP lines would be to small anyway. Probably just a “pipe” dream.
Jungle Jim
If that is the largest solar project in Latin America I guess that doesn't really say much. As of this past Sunday we drove by it on our way to Punta Salinas and checked it out. There are parking lot solar fields bigger than that here in Yuma. The one west of Gila Bend is one hundred times bigger. The one west of Calexico is two hundred times bigger.

And by the way the road is horrible and dangerous.
Old55
Jungle Jim said:

If that is the largest solar project in Latin America I guess that doesn't really say much. As of this past Sunday we drove by it on our way to Punta Salinas and checked it out. There are parking lot solar fields bigger than that here in Yuma. The one west of Gila Bend is one hundred times bigger. The one west of Calexico is two hundred times bigger.

And by the way the road is horrible and dangerous.

It seems that horse paste has clouded your brain after all. https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/puerto-penasco-solar-power-plant-will-begin-operations-in-april/#
richwi
According to Clearwater Energy Group which, along with Berkshire Hathaway, developed the Yuma solar field there is a capacity of 300MWac of which 203MWac are currently usable. The Penasco facility has a current capacity of 120MWac complete to come on line in April and Phase 2, which is 60% completed has a capacity of an additional 300MWac and is scheduled to come on line last 2023. Phase 3, scheduled for 2026 adds an additional 300MWac. There are phases 4 and 5 on the plans but funding has not been allocated.

Did you go off the Caborca Hwy (3) down the airport road to look at the completed area? From the highway you can't see much of it all all.
playaperro
If you look at Tony’s the whale guy facebook page, you can see most of the solar project it’s massive. Maybe the guy donated the land to power up the desalination plant.
Tony flew over the project on his way to GN over to Baja.
Old55
playaperro said:

If you look at Tony’s the whale guy facebook page, you can see most of the solar project it’s massive. Maybe the guy donated the land to power up the desalination plant.
Tony flew over the project on his way to GN over to Baja.

That has got to be a big part because the math just doesnt work otherwise with the small population in the area.CFE is also playing its crooked part.
A twitter feed talks about the ins and outs of why this is happening.Some of it was way over my head and it was from a Pan related economist ( boy did PAN have a bad week!)
Old55
Old55 said:

That has got to be a big part because the math just doesnt work otherwise with the small population in the area.CFE is also playing its crooked part.
A twitter feed talks about the ins and outs of why this is happening.Some of it was way over my head and it was from a Pan related economist ( boy did PAN have a bad week!)

twitter: 1627036554240884736
richwi
I didn’t go back to reread all the posts but most of the power from the solar plant is going to Baja. Baja is not currently connected to the rest of the CFE grid and CFE buys power from the US at very high rates. The solar plant is meant to minimize or eliminate the need to buy power from the US. Some power will be allocated to Penasco but I have t been able to find how much.
joanC
It will be interesting to see if they give the panels the regular maintenance and cleaning they need.
Old55

meanwhile , what the hell ?