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

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million, with a third deal potentially in the Buyers of the small parcelds werenot identified, but Kuldip Verma, president and CEO of , whicn sold the land, said the buyers had interestg in developing the land's solar potential. Vermalanf also is looking at selling a 3,600-acre parcel at auction within the next six months in the county’sz western reaches. While the first auctiojn focused on fivesmaller parcels, a contiguous site such as Vermaland’s could draw a highed premium, if companies believe it has accesas to water and power “Several large-scale utility companies have expressed interest in the propertyh once the site is said Verma, who added the site has water rights, on-site wells and a low slope.
Whils the company was able to sell thetwo parcels, pricea were below what neighboring land has been selling for. The goal was to spur solafr companies to purchase land rather than simplyg tieit up, Verma said. The properties sold at Saturday’ s auction included an 80-acre site in the Tonopah area for $340,00p and a 320-acre site in Tonopah for $2.24e million. The company did not identify which of the remaininbg three properties might be involved inanother deal.
“Thre auction brought the properties to the attention of some partieds that we had never been incontactr with, as well as reminderd others we had spoken with in the past of the which is highly suitable for solar development,” said Anits Verma-Lallian, the company’s marketing director. Vermaland already had sold land toseverao California-based utilities looking to develop renewable resources to meet that state’s standards for clea energy.
Solar energy developers have been placing applications on statee and federal lands in westernm Arizona for the pastthree years, and private land ownersz have been negotiating as developers look for the best As companies scout for land, they also face financing issues and none of the proposed projects in Arizona has broken ground. Arizona’s main solar corridoer includes Vermaland’s parcels, an area that stretches from Yuma to Phoenid and Tucson seen as a huge growtgh area fordeveloping utility-scale solare power plants.